Sometimes, it's just nice to be told what to do when undertaking something as big as a move. Here's my checklist of things I wish I knew before relocating to Vancouver Island.

Am I new to the area? Fairly, we moved here a year ago in July. 

The good news is you can learn from my mistakes and use this checklist to make sure you're starting your big move on the right foot! 

I'd like to start off by saying that if you're considering relocating to Vancouver Island I'm so happy you're doing it now and not when we did. We sold our home in January of 2021 and spent the next six months not knowing where we would end up due to the crazy market. I'll spare you the details but any plan we would have made would have been useless due to how much we had the rug swept out from underneath us. Looking back and considering the current friendlier buyer environment here's what I think should help you on your journey. 

I'm going to go a bit deeper on this one, sort of a “pre-checklist”. When you're searching for a place to live on Vancouver Island, unless you have to be in a certain area I'd recommend opening up your map to a larger geographic area. Search in areas you've never considered! When we first thought of moving to Vancouver Island we had in mind that we wanted to move to an area called Maple Bay. We even did a day trip over and spent the majority of our time looking in that area.

I even remember declaring loudly at the dinner table one night that I would “never move to Nanaimo” but, I'm forever grateful that the housing market forced us to look in more regions because I know I'm so much happier here. Perhaps knowing that you'll have a more “leisurely” buying experience makes you want to narrow down more. I would encourage you to stay open-minded! The distances from one place to another on Vancouver Island are actually a lot shorter than you might think, so even though you end up in one location you might be closer to your desired location. You can do day trips there or visit and explore on your days off! 

Now while you're doing the fun part of shopping for a home it's essential to think of the transitions you'll have to make moving to the island. If you have kids, it's going to be important for you to look into schools and when registration is open in certain cities. You're going to need an address in the catchment where you're considering registering your child, so please think of this one early! 

Our child was in French immersion and although we put them on every single wait list in Nanaimo he didn't make it in. The school in his catchment was almost full at that point! I don't have all the answers for you and I'm sure I jumped through some hoops to get him into the school that we needed to but I'm just saying this is an important one to think of early. 

An important thing to mention is that it's almost impossible to find a doctor in Nanaimo or on Vancouver Island right now. If your doctor has moved to doing virtual visits since Covid I'd recommend maybe having a chat with them and seeing if you can stay on as a patient. Otherwise, you might be waiting a while.

If you're moving from out of Province, you'll have some additional things to consider. Think of things like setting up your BC care cards, your BC driver's license and also your ICBC auto insurance. On that topic, we found our insurance to be quite a bit less expensive than on the Mainland, so that might be a nice perk for you! Make sure you're prepared ahead of time for any deviances from what you're used to in terms of cost and service. (Some of these differences I'll be covering in a future blog regarding Nanaimo's cost of living) 

Plan to have things such as utilities like cable, internet and hydro installed on the day that you arrive. Think of your home insurance as well (this is a good one to shop around for!) 

Once you found your home and you know your possession date, make sure to book your mover early! This is essential because they'll have to book a ferry reservation - and they'll want to do that early in the day! We had a great experience with a company called One Pro Moving. They're experts at Island moves and we would highly recommend them! 

Scope out some local restaurants so that you can order takeout on the day of your move! 

Even if you're organized enough to bring food, you probably won't have the energy or have any of your kitchen stuff unpacked. Just trust me on this one! The good news is if you are relocating to Nanaimo there are tons of food options, so you will not be disappointed!

If you have a dog, make sure that you do some research to find out where you can take them along your journey and also once you've arrived at your new home. 

There are some really great off-leash trails in Nanaimo! One of my favourites is Pioneer Park. This one would be really good on moving day when you're short on time because the loop is fairly short but there are lots of fun paths for your dog to explore! Last but not least on my list: give your friends and family your new address and update all of your bank cards and online services. Canada Post also has mail forwarding for up to a year, for six people in your household. That's about $75.

When it comes time for your big move, you'll be so happy you thought ahead and I really hope this checklist has helped! Speaking of checklists, I made a free download on my website titled “Questions to Ask Your Realtor When Buying Your First Home”

Living on an island doesn’t have to make you feel STUCK. In this video, I’m going to share my tips for taking BC Ferries to Nanaimo.

Take it from me, someone who spent an entire year commuting to a job on the mainland, that using BC Ferries doesn't have to be as daunting as it sounds. As I mentioned in my previous blog post “Is Nanaimo a Good Place to Live?” being able to commute to and from the Island was very important to our family. I was still working in West Vancouver and we have kids that need to travel to and from homes in North Vancouver to us. Nanaimo was the perfect fit because of its proximity to two of the major BC Ferries ports.

Departure Bay

Departure Bay which will get you into Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. The ride is an hour and 40 minutes long and ferries are regularly scheduled every couple of hours. The location of this port in Departure Bay is close to downtown Nanaimo. Keeping in mind that my times are approximate, it's about a 12 minute drive from North Nanaimo. If you take Island Highway (or the “old highway”) it's a pretty straightforward drive and very easy to find. 

When you arrive into West Vancouver there are Express buses that will take you into Vancouver and there are some other options too which will take you about 30 minutes to get you into downtown. I personally took a smaller route to get to my job in west Vancouver and it was only about 30 minutes door to door. More on this in a little bit!

Duke Point

A little further away is another port in Duke Point and this Ferry will get you into Tsawwassen. The sailing time is a little bit longer at about two hours. Once you get to Tsawwassen it’s also a little bit further away from downtown Vancouver. It will, however, take you a little bit closer to YVR which is Vancouver's major airport and if you are taking a car it's about a 30 minute drive. 

Options Options!

One of the nice things about BC Ferries is you can choose to either drive on or walk on. I'm going to focus mostly on Departure Bay because this is the route that I have the most experience with! 

When I was commuting I would leave Monday morning and take the ferry into Horseshoe Bay where I would then transit to my job in West Vancouver. Then, I would leave again on Wednesday morning, transit to Horseshoe Bay and take the ferry home. When I was commuting I was a walk-on passenger. I chose to travel this way mainly for cost savings. Driving on and off the ferry round trip would cost me about $160 each time (and fares continue to rise!). Walking on is an $18 fare each way which is a lot more economical not to mention much less stressful because you don't have to make a reservation most of the time. If you are planning to take your car and you don't have a reservation, you're taking a huge risk of having to wait a sailing or two or even more during peak season. Showing up early is essential in this case and adds a lot to your travel time, so walking on just eliminates a lot of that stress in general.

We've used the walk-on option also a lot to visit relatives for holidays and our kids often hop on and off to travel between the mainland and our home. Just keep in mind that the minimum age to travel alone is 12. 

All the views!

Travelling by ferry is an awesome way to take in the natural beauty of BC. You can sit outside and take in the views, which sometimes include whale sightings! I personally love a good “Moody” BC weather day where I don't feel so guilty sitting inside and I can watch the ocean on a rainy day! 

I would use my time on the ferry to get work done but keep in mind that BC ferries no longer provide Wi-Fi. You can use a personal hotspot from your phone to your device and for most of the trip, you'll have a connection.

There's also shopping on board and a cafeteria with hot and cold food. I loved packing my lunch but every once in a while those white spot fries called my name!!

Before you know it the ride is over and you're at your destination! All in all using BC Ferries hasn't been a problem for us. The occasional cancelled or full sailing can be a pain but if you plan accordingly and are adaptable, you'll be just fine. Make the most out of your trip and soon you'll realize that travelling this way can be a nice change from being stuck behind the wheel of your car!

Side note: Please bring headphones! Don't be that person listening to your media or your phone calls on speaker. (Pretty Please!)

If you have any tips or tricks for travelling on BC Ferries for anyone considering relocating to Vancouver Island, make sure to leave a comment! 

Have you been asking yourself "Is Nanaimo a good place to live?" Well, I'm going to give you my top 6 reasons why I think Nanaimo is the BEST place to live on Vancouver Island!

It's Stunning!

It goes without saying that if you're thinking of relocating to B.C. or, if you're lucky enough to be from B.C. that you're drawn to its beauty. Vancouver Island is no exception.

Nanaimo has surprised me with how much beauty is right in my backyard. I'm within walking distance to some of the most beautiful beaches and trails and I think my family and friends might be a little bit tired of how much I post pictures of sunsets and beaches... but honestly, sometimes it's visual overload. I'm so blown away by the amount of beauty here.

Warm Climate!

Part of what enhances the beauty of Nanaimo is the weather. We (My husband, 4 kids and dog) came from the North Shore mountains on the Mainland which do get a lot of rain and yes it does rain here in Nanaimo... I'm not going to lie. The climate is relatively the same as Vancouver, so very mild temperatures in the winter which is obviously a draw if you're from a colder region! We've noticed a huge amount of extra sunny days here on Vancouver Island and have really enjoyed the weather here in Nanaimo so far.

Road Trips!

Living in Central Vancouver Island makes it the perfect starting point for exploring.

Nearby, about 20 minutes away, you have a very popular tourist destination in Parksville. This spot is super popular for beachgoers and campers. It's a spot that we often take friends and family who come to visit and they love exploring the beaches there.

A little bit further out is a very popular spot many of you are familiar with- Tofino. It has arguably (and I will say) some of the most beautiful beaches in the world- and that's only about a two-hour and 40-minute drive. When you're already living in Nanaimo, you're dropping the ferry ride. It's such a close destination that you can go in the summer, or in the winter when you can get in some really good storm-watching!

If you're looking for a little bit more shopping, or maybe some different dining experiences, Victoria- which is the capital of BC- is only about an hour and a half drive away. You can drive down, spend the day shopping and exploring, looking at museums, and be back at home by dinner time.

Easy Access on and off Vancouver Island!

One of the main reasons we decided to move to Nanaimo was for the commutability. You might actually be thinking "how often am I going to leave the Island?". Well, wouldn't you rather be 10 to 15 minutes away from a ferry than let's say, an hour or two hours away from getting off of the Island?

Nanaimo has two major BC ferry ports. one of them is Departure Bay which goes into Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. In fact, I spent a year commuting to my job in West Vancouver as a walk-on passenger! One of the other major ports is Duke Point which is a little further away than where we are currently in North Nanaimo. That gets you into Tsawwassen, so if you're going to the airport (YVR) it's a little bit closer to that location. So that's a bonus- I think it's really great to be able to hop on a less than two hour ride and get to the Mainland get to some extra shopping or have people visit you!

If you want to know more about the subject of BC Ferries, I am going to do another blog post on this topic in the near future!

Speaking of airports, Nanaimo does have an airport! It is a smaller airport but I consider this a positive thing- and this is coming from an ex-Flight Attendant. If you're starting off your vacation in a major airport it can be kind of stressful and what we have found is the Nanaimo airport is quiet. You can always find parking and security lineups are short. It's also going to connect you to any destination you need to get to! That is definitely a major bonus!

Get Places Faster!

Okay, I'm super surprised I didn't list this as number one! That's because when people ask me "how do you like living in Nanaimo?" my number one answer is always "I love that there is no traffic!!!". So, if you ask somebody who is from Nanaimo, they might disagree. They might tell you that it's getting busier and they find that their commute is a little bit slower. If you're from a large city, like we are, you will notice a huge difference! The main one being- you can actually plan how long it's going to take for you to get from point A to point B almost to the minute and I would say everything on average is about 20 minutes away, depending if you're going further out. You're not sitting in your car and I don't care how good your podcasts or audio books are... listen to those on the beach and spend less time in the car! 

Visitors!

My final reason why I love living in Nanaimo- and some of you may disagree, but we have had so many visitors come and see us! I think there are a few reasons for this, the major one being that Vancouver Island is a very popular tourist destination for people looking for a staycation. Oftentimes, they'll come into Vancouver Island via Nanaimo using BC Ferries, so we'll have a lot of people come in and stop in on us on their way to other places like Tofino or Parksville. They'll stay for the afternoon or sometimes they'll stay longer on their way home if they're a little bit too tired to make it all the way across on the ferry. The bonus is that we've been able to afford a little bit more house to host them so if they want to spend the night we've got the space for them! It's been incredible, we've had friends and family that barely visited us when we lived on the Mainland come and stay with us here. That's a big perk for me- it may not be for you- but I certainly love it!

Those are my top six reasons why Nanaimo is a good place to live. I can go on and on about this topic- and I will in future videos, so hopefully you will stay tuned! If you are thinking of relocating I hope this has helped!