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

tefl

    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

    1 PinterestEmail
  • 7 Tips On Choosing The Right TEFL Course

    by Nick & Raychel June 29, 2019

    Our tips on choosing the right TEFL course & how to not get scammed in the process.

  • How to Move to Cambodia & Teach English

    by Nick & Raychel March 18, 2019

    Moving to Cambodia to teach English? Here’s EVERYTHING you need to know: from TEFLs, to locations, to cash, to contracts, to lesson plans, all in a step-by-step format to make your life easier.

  • 8 Tips You Need to Read BEFORE Moving to Phnom Penh

    by Nick & Raychel March 18, 2019

    Cambodia in retrospect: what we wish we had done differently.

  • 8 Things to Know Before MOVING to Cambodia

    by Nick & Raychel March 10, 2019

    Flights? Real estate? Jobs? Transport? Friends? Here’s our quick guide that will make your move to Cambodia a lot easier.

  • 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Teaching English Abroad

    by Nick & Raychel February 28, 2019

    *hint* It’s more than a gap year job.

  • WHY You Should Teach English in Cambodia

    by Nick & Raychel January 29, 2019

    When we thought of teaching abroad, Cambodia was not the first place that came to mind. Now our minds have changed. Here’s why.

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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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GUIDE TO MARKETS | PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (2018)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8v49HKtlIk

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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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  • 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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  • 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 
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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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