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

selling everything

    Raychel standing on a beach in Australia with the wind blowing

    How to sell everything & travel when you’re broke AF

    by Nick & Raychel July 14, 2019

    Can you sell everything you own and travel when you have pretty much, um, nothing valuable? We’ll cut to it – the answer is yes, but you’ll have to get creative. The truth is, you’d be surprised by how much your things are worth, and there’s always somebody who will put them to good use.

    We’ll be straight up: we did not own a car, we did own a house, we didn’t have any expensive jewellery or electronics or really anything at all. Even still, we were still able to save roughly $2,000.00 by just selling everything we owned. So let’s walk through it.


    Prefer to watch, not read? Find our YouTube Channel here.

    Sell EVERY. Little. Thing.

    We sold everything in our apartment down to the last fork. Here’s what we did:

    • Start with the big stuff. We had one couch, a carpet, a lamp and a bedside table to sell. We had a bed at the time, but we lent it to a friend. This furniture sold online for about $40-$80 each.
    • Sell small things in bundles. Even clothes.  If you don’t have very expensive clothing, but you do have second-hand items that are still in good shape, bundle them up! Just because you don’t have expensive items, doesn’t mean you can’t sell everything & travel. Put together full outfits and sell them for $20. You can also do this with household items. Don’t have a full tool kit? Sell the tools you do have in goodie bag.
    • Sell your kitchen all at once. We took all of our sets of plates, mugs, utensils. Put them into bins. Sold the entire bins.
    • Use Facebook Marketplace – especially for the small things. We tried every platform and found Facebook Marketplace to be the most effective. Nick remembers putting a headlamp on there for $2 and meeting somebody at the train station that same night to sell it.
    • No sale is too small. Like we mentioned, we would leave the house to make a $2 sale. If you want to sell everything & travel, you’ll have to swallow your pride.
    • Put your savings in a jar. Ok, you don’t have to do this. But we found it extremely rewarding. Let’s admit it – it can be discouraging going across town to sell a set of plates for $5. If you put all of your earnings in one place however, you will be able to physically see the money pile up. It makes the process of selling everything you own way less draining.

    Make the time for sales 

    We aren’t going to lie to you. It will be time consuming. So make time for your sales. Allocate a couple of months, or at the very least, a few weeks to selling everything. If you’re still working, utilize your lunch breaks. Schedule 2 evenings per week to sell. Organize your week so that you don’t have to miss out on the pleasures in life, but you still have time to get rid of it all.

    Be open to trades

    In Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and New York there is a great resource called Bunz. If you don’t live in or around any of these cities, research Facebook trading groups.

    For example: when we were moving, I would trade small items (worth $5-$15 dollars) for bottles of wine. This helped me save on buying alcohol for all of our “farewell” social events we had planned.

    Just post what you have and name your trade. You could trade your winter jacket for a travel backpack, or something that will be beneficial to you in the future.

    Evaluate your valuables & your life

    Be realistic. Do you have enough income and/or valuables to sell everything & travel without working? If you do, great! We still have tips for you! But if the answer to that question was a big “no”, it seems like you may be in the exact same position we were in.

    We knew we wanted to travel the world, but we certainly didn’t have the income to reach those dreams. That’s when we decided we would live abroad and work while we travel.

    Evaluate your skills

    … and be open to learning new ones. There are plenty of ways to work remotely and/or abroad. If you’re thinking about getting up and running away from home, you’ve probably seen teaching English abroad a million times by now. Yep, us too. That’s what we decided to do.

    Where are you qualified to work?

    For example, we decided we wanted to teach – but neither of us have bachelor’s degrees. That’s one of the main reasons we landed on Cambodia.  Think about where you’re qualified to work, if that’s going to have to be one of your first stops.

    Research what the average-high range salary would be in the country (or countries) that you’re going to, and save up enough to get there

    Let’s use Cambodia as an example one last time. In Cambodia, teachers make 1,200 USD a month, and we knew we were going to work, so we both saved a little more than the equivalent of a monthly salary in order to move there.

    That gave us enough time and money to find jobs.

    We used this approach when we travelled through both Asia and Australia. We knew we’d each need $1,200+ to travel through Bali for a month, and $3,000+ for Australia based on average salary statistics alone. It’s a lot easier than reading through millions of differing travel guides.

    Buy your ticket – this is the hardest part

    Once you have your ticket, you kind of have to go. This was, by far, the hardest part of the entire process for us – and it may be hard for you as well.

    The good news? Once you have your ticket, you have a deadline to meet.

    —

    The point is – travelling isn’t just for people who have it all figured out. If you are open to working hard to sell your items, and open to working abroad, you are already on the right track to making a big change in your life.


    Thinking of moving to Cambodia to teach English? Our full step-by-step guide is here.

    Not sold on teaching English? Still considering it? Read: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Teaching ESL Abroad

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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

  • Working to TRAVEL✈️🚐

If you’ve been following along with our vlogs and stories, it will come as no surprise to you when I say that our days are long right now. When we chose to start travelling, we signed up for a work-save-travel-repeat cycle and have been living in for the past 4.5 years. 

We chose this life.
But we still get tired. 

And between fixing up the van, preparing for our next adventure and working full time in that Southern Ontario heat - it’s a lot. But our minds are set on travel, on exploration, on adventure, culture, and learning. So we adapt to the seasons and understand that this point in the cycle is  just that - a season -  and we are so damn grateful to be doing it together.

📍 Traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas.
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Tags: #notluxe #worktotravel #travelcouple #vanlifecouple #traveldiaries #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #vanliving
  • **CLOSED** GIVEAWAY!! 🎉

We are giving away a Bluetti EB70 portable power bank. Having a power station on hand is a sweet backup for those who are already set up completely for off-grid living and/or a good start for weekend campers looking to try out van or camper van life. We are stoked to have another way to work outside, charge more appliances and get out adventuring.

The winner will win ONE Bluetti EB70 power bank & charging cables. 

Specs:
• 716Wh capacity and 800W rated wattage
• The ultra-stable LiFePO4 battery chemistry,2500+ life cycles
• 4*110V AC outlets, 2*100W PD ports, 2*5V/3A USB-A ports, 2*regulated 12V/10A DC outputs, 1*12V/10A car port,1*15W wireless charging pad.
(Note: does not come with solar panels)
-

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Like this post 
2. Must be following @nickandraychel & @bluetti_official
3. Tag a friend in the comments below (more tags = more entries)
4. Bonus entry - share this post to story for 5 extra entries! 

Open to USA & Canada residents. Giveaway closes on June 22, 2022. 
Winner will be announced on 06/25/22. 

-

Disclaimer: No purchase necessary. Giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram.

The contest period will run from 06/15 to 06/22 2022.

— 

Tags: #vanlifecouple #vanlifeing #notluxe #vanlifediaries #vanlifegiveaway #campinggiveaway #campervan #vanconversion #camperliving #tinyliving #tinyhomeonwheels #tinyhomes #vanlifenewbie #vanlifers #livinginavan #livingoffgrid #offgridliving #vanlifedreams #travelinspo
  • Slowing down 🚐 

The whole appeal of van life and many alternative living options is the freedom to take a go at your own speed.

But sometimes it feels like you just want to see it all.
And we’ve seen SO much in the past twenty months. 

Especially in the past six.

As Canadian travellers, I find that our slow season is the opposite of others. We escape the cold weather and have been abroad for many Christmases and snowfalls. During those times, we’re cliff jumping, waterfall hopping, cruising, skatepark hunting, friendship building…

Then, when lake season rolls around we’re ready to take on a more conventional work schedule, to save up to do it all again.

But we have to tell ourselves to relax, to enjoy the downtime, to take in the peaceful moments just as much as the epic ones. To soak up the sun, to drink water, to slow down.

It’s a constant learning process.

📍Traditional Hohokam, Patayan, and Yavapai land ⁣

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Tags: #vanlife #vanlifeshot #vanlifemeetup #vanlifemoments #vanlifemovement #vanlifemagazine #vanlifestyle #vanlifeculture #vanlifecouple #vanlifeconversions #campulance #campinggirls #campinglife #rvliving #camperlife
  • But how do you SHOWER? 😅

This photo is from the most ridiculous YouTube thumbnail we’ve had to date. We took so many funny photos this day, we couldn’t NOT share. Or maybe we could. Oh well.

But let’s answer the question while we’re at it.

🚿 We primarily go to Anytime Fitness which is a little pricier than Planet Fitness. In our opinion, however, the equipment is way nicer, there are usually less people, they’re all over Canada & the US, it’s open 24/7, and the showers are private.

🚿 When we’re not near an Anytime Fitness (this has only happened one time when we were in Quartzsite), we find a truck stop shower to go to.

🚿 And that’s about it. We bought a camping shower at the beginning of van living and only used it one miserable time.

Do you think a shower is necessary in a van build?

___

Tags: #vanlife #vanlifeshot #vanlifeshower #vanlifecamper #campinglife #campingtrip #vanlifebuild #vanlifediaries #vanlifegirls #vanlifetravel #vanlifetravels #vanlifestyle #vanlifeexplorers #campinggirls #outsideisfree #outsideshoot #vanlifeculture #vanlifecommunity
  • We have been doing so much stealth city camping lately that we felt like we needed a break. When we first moved into our van, we set off to Vancouver Island, where we were constantly surrounded by nature - and even though we had no idea what we were doing, it was just easy to be outside.

As you guys know, we’ve lived all sorts of van life. From brick & mortar jobs, to off-grid living, to city dwelling, to full-time travelling. Lately, we’ve seen A LOT of cities and while we’re grateful to have covered so much ground, we knew we needed nature. 

So we nestled ourselves into Starved Rock State Park and reset.
Full video is on YouTube. Link in bio.

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Tags: #vanlife #vanlifecouple #vanlifediaries #vanlifers #vanliving #ambulanceconversion #vandwelling #vandweller #camperlife #campervan #camperconversion #campingbackpack #campinglife #campingtrip #illinois #starvedrockstatepark
  • “The life you have led doesn’t need to be the only life you have” – Anna Quindlen

I can’t imagine committing to being the person I was 5 years ago for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine committing to one mindset or one way of life. 

It would be impossible to put into words how much we’ve changed through travel and meeting people. And as we start to hype ourselves up for our next big journey, we’re excited to dive head first with an open mind. 

Whether you’re building a van, starting a new job, buying a plane ticket, or even walking out of the house every morning - you have no fucking idea what’s in store.

Travel has a special way of changing you. 
And the best thing you can do is allow it. 

📍 Traditional Kumeyaay land
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