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

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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  • This summer has been filled with a lot of hard work so we can continue the adventure.

Working odd jobs and picking up work that we aren’t necessarily *passionate* about (sorry to break it to you, Santa, I didn’t love being a Christmas elf at the mall during the holidays) isn’t always easy.

Working hours at the office, doing data entry, reception, and cleaning out the fridge every Friday isn’t exactly my idea of fun. Nick doesn’t love driving a truck for 11 hours a day, or getting home at 1am. 

But we are committed to the cycle, we are passionate about alternative living, and we want to see the world.

We don’t work hard so that we can have a margarita at the beach (although that’s fun too), we work hard so that we can experience different cultures, try different cuisines, learn about different climates, connect, and grow as people.

Travel to us is more than bright blue waters and aesthetic IG photos, it’s about the experience, and we can’t wait to see more.

__

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

Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #vanliving #livingoutdoors #campinglife  #vanlifevirals #vanlifeideas #vandwelling

++ Keywords: van living, van dwelling, van life build, campervan build, van life road trip, budget travel
  • Yeah, the first ever “odd job” I took in order to afford travel was as a Christmas Elf at the mall.

I worked this job on top of my regular 9-5 so that I could afford to pay off my existing credit card debt and move to Cambodia. It was my first step away from the ‘big girl jobs’ I was used to working, but I had a dream to live abroad and a bank account that didn’t match, so I had to do something about it.

The next few jobs I’ve done either part or full time over the years.

💻 REV: I’ve worked as a transcriber on Rev for a few years now. The pay isn’t great, but I’m a super fast typist (80 wpm who!?) so I figured it could be a way to pass the time & earn extra income.

🐶 Rover: This summer, we’ve ventured into caring for dogs on Rover. While we can’t do this in our van, we are currently staying with my brother and between all of us, there’s always a dog here. If I had learned about Rover prior to moving out of our apartment, I would have definitely offered my services years ago.

👩‍🏫 Teaching English online: Many people know that we taught English overseas - but only long-time followers of the YouTube channel would know that teaching ESL was my job beyond that. Unfortunately there were major pay cuts within the company that I worked for (PalFish) so I quit, but I still teach on Cambly and Outschool (more on that in part 2).

We don’t have a lot of money but we have expensive dreams, so we’ll do anything to make it work. What odd jobs have you done to earn some extra cash?

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

Tags: #notluxe #vanlifecouple #vanlifecouples#tinyhome #vanlifers #vanlifevirals #vanlifemovement #vanbuildout #vandwelling #vanlifediaries  #vanlifemovement #vanlifeexplorers #traveljobs #vanlifejobs #workontheroad #digitalnomad #budgettravel 

++ Keywords: van life tips, travel tips, van life travel, van life youtube
  • Anyone who knows our story knows that we have been working throughout our entire travels. Seasonal / temporary work has afforded us a lifestyle filled with travel and adventure. ✈️

We have explored temp agencies, Craigslist ads, used websites like Airtasker (Australia) and Kijiji to find our temporary/seasonal jobs. But in the US specifically, there are some websites designed specifically for this type of work. 🌲

Here are 3 websites designed for seasonal work (mostly U.S. based):
1. Vagajobs: a resource for seasonal & year-round work with a heavy focus on travel/adventure jobs. Some jobs posted on Vagajobs include staff housing.
2. CoolWorks: job opportunities in great places - from national parks to ski resorts, summer camps, to national parks. Some jobs posted on CoolWorks include staff housing.
3. Occupation Wild: job board for the outdoor / adventure and travel industry. Hiring all sorts of positions at ranches, camps, resorts, conservation areas and national parks. 

Outside of the U.S.? Same (kinda). Our main go-to in Canada is Indeed (search by job type & select contract / seasonal)

Do you have any seasonal job boards to add to the list?
Drop ‘em here. ⬇️

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

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++ Keywords: van life, van life virals, camping lifestyle, outdoorsy,  travel, travel jobs @vagajobs @coolworksjobs @occupation_wild
  • If you’re in Ontario, you don’t want to miss this next year ✨ 

This was our first time visit the Hamilton night market and it was so worth the visit. Come along with us! @hhnightmarket 

Have you tried stinky tofu? ⬇️ 

—

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

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  • Shoutout to anyone who does these tiny (or big) builds on your own 🤦🏼‍♀️

We all have different strengths, right?… 

What’s your most dreaded part of DIY? ⬇️ 
_

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time tiny living & budget travel 

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  • Saying goodbye is the hardest part about travelling.

We have said dozens and dozens of goodbyes throughout our 20s. We have met countless new faces, made a ton of connections, and have shed a lot of goodbye tears.

Even a visit ‘home’ comes with the looming feeling of saying goodbye again.

We wish we could take everyone we love and put them in our pocket.
But we know that everybody has a different dream, a different life. 

When we take our next flight or fill up the gas tank to our next stop on the road, they go off on to see the world for themselves, to raise their families, to chase their career goals, love lives, or whatever else.

And we are so stoked to be able to stay in touch online.
But it’s definitely the hardest part of living nomadically.

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

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