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Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
  • Australia
  • Travel
  • Teaching ESL
  • Move Abroad
  • Travel Insurance

lifestyle in british columbia

    living in Vancouver Canada

    Living in Vancouver, Canada | The Pros & Cons

    by Nick & Raychel May 23, 2020

    We’ve been so fortunate to live in so many beautiful places around the world. Now, we’re sitting back and reflecting on our experiences in Sydney, the Okanagan, Phnom Penh, Toronto, and of course today, living in Vancouver.

    We fell in love with Vancouver and we both kind of call Vancouver home, although we’re not living there right now. When you live in a city for long enough, it starts to become a little bit tainted. That said, as we’ve mentioned before and will continue to mention, we feel so lucky to have lived in all of these places – and without a doubt, Vancouver is an amazing place to live. 

    We’re going to reflect on what we absolutely love about living in Vancouver, and mention some of the cons too. So let’s get into it.

    Prefer to watch, not read? Same! Find our YouTube channel here.

    If you’re planning on moving to Vancouver, you’re in the right place.  Let’s start about talking about the obvious (and not so obvious) perks and downsides about living in this gorgeous coastal city.

    Vancouver is absolutely beautiful

    It is a playground for people who love the outdoorsYou have the mountains and the ocean. If you want to ski surf, cycle, skateboard, basically do anything, you can pretty much do any outdoor hobby in Vancouver.

    The quality of life in Canada is top notch

    The education system is fantastic. Universal healthcare. It’s a green city. It’s a healthy city. Need we say more?

    living in vancouver  

    Vancouver is a very diverse city with plenty of diverse cuisines

    Vancouver is generally a very accepting place. A lot of  diverse culture brings in a lot of diverse food, which is a massive benefit of being able to live there.

    Particularly, Vancouver has some of the best sushi in the entire world, which we happen to love. Yep, the rumours are true. If you love sushi you’re going to love Vancouver. But let’s not forget about all of the other amazing cuisines Vancouver has to offer.

    Ahhh, the great outdoors

    Vancouver is a very outdoorsy city. If you’re an outdoorsy person, you love to go on hikes, spend time in the oceans, spend time at the beach, go skiing, snowboarding, any of that, hands down you’re absolutely going to love Vancouver.

    …but this is where our first ‘con’ comes in…

    All that said, if you’re not really an outdoorsy person, that’s ok! Hey, some people aren’t. If you’re a total city slicker, it’s not that Vancouver doesn’t have that to offer for you. You’ll definitely be able to find your little pockets of the city, but it really is so outdoor-oriented, you might feel like a little bit of a fish out of the water because the people of Vancouver love their nature. It’s just the culture. 

    What’s your cup of tea?

    There are nine beautiful beaches in Vancouver

    Kitsilano, English Bay, Jericho, Second Beach, Third Beach, Locarno, Sunset Beach, Spanish Banks, Trout Lake – and they are all so different in vibes, crowds, and appearance.

    Take your pick & you won’t be disappointed.

    …but something to remember…

    It’s rare that the temperature will soar any higher than 25°C (77°F), so if you’re coming from a hot country, you’ll have some climate adjusting to do.

    The cost of living is high and we’re not going to lie to you about it

    There’s no beating around the bush. It’s really not a good city for minimum wage workers. You’re going to want to try to find a job that pays higher than minimum wage.

    Hey, you can make it work.  People make it work in Vancouver all the time. We sure did as young, broke 20-something’s back in the day. The truth is, minimum wage in BC isn’t that high. We’re not trying to rain on your parade, but this is the reality of living in Vancouver.

    If you want a positive spin on this it’s that there are a lot of free things to do in Vancouver, such as going to the beach or things that we mentioned earlier. But if you’re a skier during ski season, it’s expensive.

    C’mon, you get what you pay for. It’s absolutely beautiful and there’s so much to do, but we’re not going to sit here and lie to you and say that it’s super affordable because it just simply is not.

    Come with savings & a plan

    If you’re coming with money in your pocket & a solid plan, you’re good to go.

    The accessibility to the rest of beautiful British Columbia

    British Columbia, as a province, is just absolutely amazing. When you move to Vancouver, you don’t only get Vancouver, you also get Squamish and Kelowna and Whistler, which a lot of people are attracted to as well. 

    You can go from being right in the heart of the city on Granville Street downtown, and you can drive an hour outside of that and you have a beautiful camping spot right on the river, mountains, completely isolated. There are endless opportunities for day trips. 


    Vancouver is a really beautiful place. We cannot deny it. You’ll have to see for yourself.

    If you have any questions about moving to Vancouver or Canada in general, come hang out with us over on our Instagram @nickandraychel and we’ll be happy to chat.

    Exploring the world through your screen? Make sure to check out our other articles about cities we’ve lived in! 

    What it’s like living in Sydney Australia

    or 8 thing you need to know before moving to Cambodia

     

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Nick & Raychel
Nick & Raychel

In 2018, we sold everything we owned and moved to Cambodia to teach English.

Let’s make this clear: this journey didn’t start with money. This journey started with a desire to see the world and to do something different for a change.

We’re not going to fool you with photos of floating breakfasts and private jets. We know what it’s like to be on a budget. Although we like to take pretty pictures, we aren’t going to wake up at an ungodly hour to give you unachievable travel jealousy. We aren’t going to censor ourselves or lie to you.

What we are going to do is stay in cheap hostels, find ways to make money, give the advice that we would want to hear, and share our experiences with you honestly.

Are you in?

Not Luxe

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ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL

About Us Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the Canadian travel couple behind the brand ‘Not Luxe’. Far before we were married (and on a mission to see the world), we were working…

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Instagram

  • We’ve lived nomadically as full-time travellers for 5 years. This is how we save money & afford to travel.

•Travel slowly - spending 6+ months in many of our travel destinations 
•We don’t have a stationary home - we travel in our self-converted ambulance
•We fly on a budget (budget airfare guide in our story highlights)
•Offering our services as house/petsitters (also in our story highlights) 

Any questions? ⬇️ 

—

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #traveltips #budgettravel #cheaptravel #budgettraveltips #gapyear #travelblogger
  • What it’s like stealth parking in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
(Spoiler: it’s like stealth parking just like anywhere else.)

Nick and I spent our first 1.5 years of van life stealth parking in British Columbia. We got really used to finding parking spots where we wouldn’t be disturbed & given that we used to live in the city, we’re used to the sound of cars, sirens, and people passing by.

To us, stealth camping is just a part of van life & we absolutely love staying in an otherwise expensive area (like Cabo) for free.

Any questions about van life in Mexico? 

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

Tags: #notluxe #vanlifecouple #vanlifecouples#tinyhome #vanlifers #vanlifevirals #vanlifemovement #vanbuildout #vandwelling #vanlifediaries  #vanlifemovement #homeiswhereyouparkit #vanlifemexico #vanliving #travelcouple #budgettravel
  • TWO MONTHS IN MEXICO >>> 

The other day we celebrated our two month anniversary in Baja and we honestly feel like it’s just beginning.

Nick and I have always been advocates for travelling slow, taking it in, and calling (almost) every place we travel home. I can say that after two months, we’re starting to get the hang of things.

Now that we’re planning our travels for the rest of the year, we have decided that we have more of Mexico to see (hello Mainland? 👀) before we gear up for our next international adventure.

What are your travel plans this year? And where would you like to see us go? ⬇️

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #vanlifemexico #travelcouple
  • Remember how in the last video our 3 day total was $0? Well, it’s looking a little different this time as this was a very expensive day while travelling in our van in Baja California Sur.

Would this be more or less than you’d expect for a pricey van life day?

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #travelcosts #vanlifetravel #vanlifemexico #vanlifebaja
  • What we ate in a day as a couple living in an ambulance in Mexico. 

Some days we cook all of our meals in the van, but on days where we’re in a bigger city (or an even bigger one like Cabo San Lucas), we like to switch it up. 

What looks the best to you? 🌱 

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 
__

Tags: #notluxe #vanlifecouple #vanlifecouples#tinyhome #vanlifers #vanlifevirals #vegantravel #plantbasedrecipes #plantbasedvlog #veganeats #mexicotravel #veganvanlife
  • This is what an evening is like sleeping for free on a beach in Mexico.

Evenings usually consist of a few things:
✨ Finding a place to park using iOverlander
✨ Cleaning up our van to make it as cozy as possible
✨ Stretching our legs one last time before heading to bed
✨ Drinking wine & watching Survivor 

Evenings in a van aren’t that different than evenings in our old apartment, just a few adjustments help us feel right at home.

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries  #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #vanliving #livingoutdoors #campinglife  #vandwelling #vanlifemexico #vanlifebaja #eveningroutine
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