My stay in Canada from May to September was spent sleeping in vehicles, it just fell into place somehow and the longer I lived it the more I enjoyed the lifestyle, especially in the summertime.
My daily routine
The early morning light would wake me by 7-8am at the latest. Time to move to the front seat, slowly wake up for a few more minutes and think about how to go on about the day. Step out of the car, cross Yukon street, pass city hall and walk straight into city square malls luxurious bathroom. Sometimes Mc Donald’s, Starbucks or some other chain restaurant had to provide the free bathroom and WiFi, city square mall only opened at 8am. Once I got back to the car I’d brush my teeth and get ready, pack my stuff and go to work. Over the course of the 4 months I enjoyed the homeless life in Vancouver my routines didn’t change much but my the places I worked from did. I started out at different Starbucks locations, the terrace by city hall and at Aperture, a small, hip cafe on main street
Once Brandon left and I returned from Vancouver island I worked full-time. I switched the venues during the day, Starbucks from 7am, they opened quite early, but got way too busy around 10am. I would walk to Aperture cafe after and stay there till the afternoon. I sometimes sat in Aperture for 8 hours at a time, saw the shifts change, I even knew all the Spotify playlists they used to play. They did make a good large latte and offered a nice little sandwich. The city had just created a fancy terrace on top of an older building overlooking the downtown area right next to city hall. They placed a few metal tables around a lamppost with a power outlet in the center. It turned into one of my favorite workplaces, I worked there for many hours. It was great to smoke while working on the computer and I even found a little pee spot in a corner. Coffee-pees can be quite urgent.
Sometimes the city provided entertainment, they created a neighborhood-festival program, inviting local artists to play during lunch time. Loud and mediocre most of the time, but I used the terrace for work so much that I experienced at least 5 or 6 of these events. Without a regular workspace work as quite hard, the terrace was weather dependent and working in cafés and or chain restaurants was loud and stressful. I started to feel sick because of all the coffee I had.
Cambie Bride, Vancouver, Canada
Taken on one of my many walks around the city looking for a good shot, dinner, something I haven’t seen before, candy, who knows what I was up to that day. The lady under the overpass definitely caught my eye, good light colors and composition.
Door open
I slept in the carpark behind the house in a car every night, first in the van, then in my own vehicle. One morning, still asleep, it must have been around 5 or 6am, I hear the door handle clacked and my drivers side door was slowly opened, it woke me up but I still needed a few more seconds to open my eyes, once I did I saw two crackheads hands, then faces, then their hands going for mybackpack with all my office stuff. They hadn’t noticed me yet, eyes on the price. Fully awaken by their presence I started to scream as loud as I possibly could. The two guys completely freaked out l, jumped away from the car, fell over each other, picked up their little crackhead BMX bikes, leaving the driveway as fast as they could. 10 seconds and my bag would’ve been with them. I made sure to lock myself in the following nights.
My office was in my backpack, I walked between the places, most days I would return to the house at some point, shop some fruit and veggies on the way, visit one of the dispensaries and meet Dustin for lunch break.
I walked a lot that summer, a normal day easily took me 10-15km. Depending on my work situation and our moods we would do something in the afternoon but most of the time I had to go back to work.
Hot showers were hard to find, sometimes I showered in the house, but I tried to be not too invasive. Harry the housemate paid rent while quite a few of Dustin’s and Barbara’s guests stayed and used the facilities like bathroom and shower for free. Out of respect for everyone I tried to use the facilities as little as I could, except the outside area. During the hot summer weeks I mostly skated to the beach and used one of the free showers there, but they were always cold. 3-4 days without a shower were normal, even in the summer. I had other worries than my personal hygiene. I visited public swimming pools to shower as well.
A place like home didn’t exist, all I had was a place to sleep, I never hung around the car a lot in Vancouver, except a bit before and after sleeping. Without couch and living room the evenings were mostly spent with Dustin in his yard and one or two fancy Canadian microbrews and a few spliffs. Life was a combination of lounging in public parks and exploring the city on skates or by foot, taking photos etc. I was quite busy with my workload, not falling into disrepair, going to my different work places, eating, bathroom duties etc. I wasn’t too worried about creativity, be it blading or photography, my ability to function was my main concern.
Man and coffee, Vancouver, Canada
Loved the colors in this picture, the blue tones in combination with the red works great. Taken somewhere around Commercial drive. The area had a nice urban vibe as the skytrain would cross over the street in several locations. And yes Tim Hortons is awesome.
The BBQ under the van
Living the homeless life and having to visit Vancouver’s not too filling restaurants for food, Dustin’s barbecue came as gift from god. I used it extensively on my Vancouver island trip earlier and now started again at the community center. It must’ve been a hilarious sight, some dude camping out in the parking lot throwing a barbecue. The community center was quite modern and in a good neighborhood, the people visiting were mostly friendly but uptight Canadians. There weren’t as many homeless around as in other parts of town.
One day I didn’t want to put the barbecue back into the car as it strongly smelled of meat and vegetable juices. I parked Edward in front of Dustin’s van, next to the green isle in the middle of the lot. I hid the barbecue in between our two cars that day. It must have been me who left first the next morning, heading out to one of the libraries around town. Dustin told me later that when it was his time to leave he started his engine just like he normally would. It always took a while to start up the old Chevy Vans engine, it wasn’t summer anymore, we still had good weather, but overall more grey and rainy days, the cold wasn’t helping. Once he threw the gear in and started to drive he heard the strangest scratchy noise from the bottom of the car, he thought he had broken his axle. He got out the car, found the barbecue, slapped me mentally in the face and threw it into the bush next to him. That was the story of the barbecue, I couldn’t find it when I returned for it the next day, no more home cooked meals in public parking lots.
City skyline, Vancouver, Canada
The view from the parking lot at Ambleside skatepark towards the city. We spent a couple of nights here enjoying the great views. One of the mornings, I was trying to wake up beside the ocean and shake of the cold night by the sea a random old man came by and asked if I wanted to come back to his house and give him a BJ, or maybe the other way around. Normally I can tell, but everyone in Canada is so friendly, I got caught off guard and denied thankfully.
