In Vancouver, $600 a month gets you half a bachelor suite. On Mayne Island, it gets you a three-bedroom house overlooking the waters of Active Pass, with varied wildlife and lush trees as neighbours. With that in mind, Grant Buday trades in the high-powered city life in Vancouver for the small town eccentricities of Mayne Island. The scenery, however impressive, is not the only change. A college English instructor for six years, Buday now finds himself working wherever a hand is needed. Some of his more adventurous jobs included stealing a boat with one of the locals, who in exchange asked Buday for a word of the day; sheep herding on a deer farm with no deer; and his current part-time gig, helping out at the Mayne Island Recycling Depot. Living on Mayne has also presented Buday with endless opportunities for learning, whether it’s firewood-picking lessons from his tree-felling Mennonite neighbour Jake, or chainsaw lingo lessons from the local dealer in Sidney. In Stranger on a Strange Island, Buday explores the layered nature of small-town life, the rich history of Mayne Island and the reasons that compelled him to trade in city life for the island life. Stranger on a Strange Island is number 19 in the Transmontanus series.