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

pros and cons of vancouver

    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?

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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 worked the whole time, we just left the desk. 

And turns out there was world out there full of opportunity, friendship, and love we had never quite experienced before. 

We know this lifestyle isn’t for everyone, but it’s for us - and we’re so glad we went for it. 🫶🏼

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

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  • How much does van life in Mexico cost?
The truth is, it’s going to be different for everybody.

But here is a breakdown of our budget for 4 months of van livin’ on the beach this winter. 

**Please note that this DOESN’T include our trip to Mexico City which was $497 USD. Full breakdown of that air travel trip can be found on our profile!**

Any questions?

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

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  • Van life: Las Vegas ✨🫶🏼

I don’t even have to words to tell you how fun this evening was. We were almost not going to make it to Vegas this trip, but didn’t it was @cakin_bakes birthday - we couldn’t say no. 

This is what it’s like stealth camping on the Las Vegas strip. 🥂 

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

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  • Crossing the Mexico/US border: the end of van life Mexico 🇲🇽 

We have crossed a lot of borders in our lives, but only 2 in our ambulance conversion. 

The added stress of having your entire home with you, a stranger walking through your van, etc. isn’t the best feeling, but as you can tell watching this video - we were just fine. 

Anyone else get unnecessarily nervous at border crossings?

(thanks @geneandshay for the inspo to film the live interaction on our phones)

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

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  • Van life in Mexico: driving up the Baja Peninsula. 

We spent a few days in La Paz, Mulegé & Guerrero Negro before crossing the border from Mexico into California. This is what it was like. 

A moment of appreciation for Bahía Concepción - shall we? 

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

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  • It’s official: we are leaving Mexico. 

The past four months in this beautiful country have been nothing but a dream come true. We’ve met amazing people, ate incredible food, and drank probably 500 shots of tequila. 

But as you know, Nick and I work seasonal / temp jobs and it’s officially time for us to find work again. 

So come with us up the west coast, it’s time for a new adventure!

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

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