Vancouver

Sleep

2 nights at Mai’s thanks to Airbnb – Peer-to-peer apartment rental platform

We liked: A bit of calm to recover from the jet-lag, Ivan’s carbonara spag’
But: Costs are proportional to the rent, little trade-off between rates and location, no real contact with the hosts (this time).

2 nights at Brennan’s, Dane’s, Quinn’s and Jordan’s with Couchsurfing – a hospitality exchange and social networking platform.

We liked: the rave, Quinn’s pizzas, the gig in the kitchen, the fireworks in the living room, spending the night with people from 15 different nationalities.
But: Not ideal when you need to work. We have those videos to edit, haven’t we? 😉

3 nights at a local’s, Franck the Champ’, an ol’ mate from high school

We liked: Catching up with Francky (in a new setting), sleeping on a couch rather than sharing the floor with 8 other people, Mathieu aka Sheepy’s curry chicken. #GreatTimes
But: 3 bros in your living room is a whole lot of love but can be a tad invasive, not a lot of independence, still not ideal for working.

Sleep tight! (Airbnb)

Work

2 days at the HiVE Vancouver and Suite Genius, co-working spaces – or shared office space.

We liked: Working in a place that wasn’t a Starbuck’s or a couch in the living room, meeting Ben – an entrepreneur from Ontario – and Marie – a French expat working as a consultant in the field of pharmacology – around an improvised cup of coffee.
But: You obviously still have to pay. We were kindly offered a 3-day trial period but not sure we could have afforded it in the long run.

Working it @ the HiVE

Eat

11 meals at a local’s place.

We liked: Not having to sell our socks in order for us to afford lunch (Good Heavens!), little music quiz whilst cooking the aforementioned chicken curry.
But: You have to find the local. Internet is cool but it’s not everything.

#Bacon #Love

Travel

1 ride to the airport with Djump – peer-to-peer taxi service driving people around in their own car.

We liked: Having a laugh with our driver Slav, the bemused stares we got along the way with that big hat on our tiny car.

But: Nothing to say! 3 Happy bros – hat trick! (badoom poom tschhh!)

1 ride hitch-hiking from the Airport to the center of Vancouver

We liked: How easy it was to just ask Dwayne and jump in! Also, him miming his daughter doing mixed martial arts whilst driving around the bend.

But: can’t be all that easy… It is not a taxi. You won’t be dropped off at your destination. 3 Km seem longer when you are carrying 15kg on your back.

The great departure

Exploration

Modo (car-sharing coop)

Tool library (cooperative tool lending library)

Kickstand (community cycling resource centre)

The Terminal Glass City Coop (co-operative glass arts facility)

Pop-Up libraries (community booth for the exchange of books)

MakerLabs (public fabrication studio)

The Bro Crush

Craig’s List! – a website where you can find literally everything

We originally thought we had clicked on the wrong link. It’s all old and stuff. But this is a gold mine! You’ll find everything on there: a ride, a hairdresser, your next set of Badminton shuttlecocks, pet care… Everything! Everyone’s using it!

We liked: finding half-priced GoPro batteries in under 7mn and meeting Jonathan – an expat having had to escape Venezuela trying to make it in Vancouver, finding 2 rides to go to SF.
But: Based on a somewhat old-fashioned e-mail system – not necessarily the most practical.

BIG BRO HUG TO ALL! 

Bros + Big School Bus