Jasmine and Peter Grant were fed-up with living paycheque to paycheque. So they gave up their apartment for a 1988 GMC Vandura. They've been saving money, travelling and, so far, not regretting the move one bit.
"It's a bit of an older beast," said Jasmine, "but she's good. She drives everywhere."
"We could pay the rent," said Peter. "But at the end of the month, there was nothing left." He said they felt the need to make a change. "We were getting further and further behind, so finally we said 'enough of this.'" The couple couldn't dream of travelling the way things were going, but since they started living what they call the 'Vanlife', they've been taking all kinds of trips. In fact, they just returned from San Fransisco. "It was my first time in the States kind of travelling around," said a smiling Jasmine.
"Now we don't pay rent," added Peter. "If we want to go, we just leave."
If anyone sees them as victims of a tight economy forced to eke out an existence by living in their vehicle, they say don't feel sorry for them. "Don't feel bad for us," said Jasmine. "It was completely by choice. We did it on purpose," chimed in Peter.
Last winter the couple rented a place in someone's driveway in Whistler.
They are currently looking for a place to park their little home-on-wheels in Kelowna. They are advertising on Facebook offering to pay $250 for part of your driveway, along with somewhere to plugin and access to a washroom.
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