Of course, every year Dine Out comes around, I have to visit new restaurants.
Again, I really highly recommend trying it out. There’s a price point for everyone (this year’s menus has $20, $30, and $40 price points), and there’s 288 restaurants to choose from. If you’ve got any time these two weeks, or if you’ve been wanting to meet up with a friend, you should definitely make a reservation.
Lately, more and more car shares have popped up around Vancouver. I am a member of two, and have had exposure early on in the car sharing game via my friend who introduced Modo to me back in 2010. So I thought everyone might benefit from a guide on my experience, as well as take a look at the different car shares in Vancouver.
If this is a bit too long for you, scroll down to see the summary chart— keep in mind that the chart is based off the cheapest memberships available from each car share, but Modo and Zipcar offers other kinds of packages as well.
An ad from CNV
Generally, I’ve had a good experience with car shares. There’s late nights when taking public transit is just not an option, and taxis might deem your trip too close to be worth their effort. There are also places that aren’t as easy to get to with public transport. Take going to my boyfriend’s house: we live only about 20 blocks apart. Taking transit requires going on 2 different busses, and my commute time ends up being at least 20 minutes-30 minutes if the bus schedules didn’t line up. If I pick up a car share car, my trip to my boyfriend’s is 5 minutes.
I can’t afford my own car, and I don’t have a need for one at the moment. UBC is a bus away, and so is downtown. I get access to the family car on the weekends. But having the option to drive whenever I want is handy.
One thing to note is that I joined car2go and Evo for free because they were having promotions for free registration for university students. I was a car2go member since 2013, and an Evo member since the summer of this year, 2015. I’m not sponsored in any way for this post. Hopefully this post can help those of you considering car share figure out which one is right for you, and point out some things you might want to take note of.
Back when my friend told me about Modo, I was intrigued. When we went on longer trips to the US, he’d usually reserve a Modo minivan and then we’d pile all our things in and go. So simple! Of course, the two day total for the car was about $200 (unless if my memory is failing me), but shared amongst several people it’s not that bad.
One thing I saw a flaw in was returning the Modo car— which is the same for Zipcars: you have to return the car where you got it. There are designated spots around Vancouver for Modo cars. You have to return it there. It’s not as handy as I’d like it because it’d mean I’d have to allocate more time to return the car, and unless if there was a designated vehicle near my house, it’s not very convenient.
That’s why when car2go came out I joined when I managed to find free membership. Car2go has a home zone area, and you’re free to drop off the car anywhere within that area. That meant I could park in front of my house and leave the car there. That also meant I can drive it to a friend’s house and leave it there, and then bus back if I wanted to. Or vice versa. Evo also does the same, but right now their home zone is smaller than car2go’s. For example, I can drive to Richmond as long as it’s along no. 3 road and park anywhere there for a car2go!
TLDR: Make sure you’re okay with the method that you must return your car share vehicle. If Modo/Zipcar doesn’t have a vehicle located near you, you may want to reconsider paying for a membership.
Car maps:
car2go home zone
Evo home zone
Modo car map
Zipcar car map
I don’t have experience renting a car share vehicle for an extended period other than indirectly with friends for Modo. But if you look at the chart I’ve included, although it’s easier to drop off and pick up car2gos and Evos, Modos and Zipcars may be cheaper if you’re looking at extended and more frequent rentals.
I’ve driven from UBC to home and that took about 45 minutes, and my bill came to almost $20 for a ride home. Ouch. You can see that Modo’s hourly rates are much lower, but keep in mind that you have to return that vehicle at the same place you got it. Chances are it may take a while, but for extended trips (such as multiple day rentals), you should look into Modo/Zipcar.
List of basic things you’ll need to pay for when using a car share:
Modo and Zipcar have several different plans to choose from, whereas car2go and Evo has the same plan for everyone. Car2go and Evo has a yearly renewal fee of $2, but otherwise you’re good to go. Modo’s more expensive membership plans (a member-owner plan instead of just being a monthly member) costs $500 rather than the $10 sign up + $5 monthly fee I’ve listed below. But you’ll get to pay a lower fee for the hourly/daily rates. Zipcar also has different plans depending on how often you’ll need the car— if you need it less, the hourly rates are higher, but your membership commitment cost is lower.
One thing I like for the car shares I’m a part of is the fact that they have parking spots downtown. I can drive downtown, drop them off and be done with that. Parking in downtown is a nightmare for personal vehicles, so this is a big plus for me.
Generally:
One great thing about car shares is that gas is included. If your vehicle is low on gas, there should be a credit card (locked to only gassing up for that vehicle at gas stations) in the car which you can use and it’ll be charged to the respective car share provider. Insurance is also included in your membership fee. For Evo and car2go, you rate the cleanliness of your car and I think when enough people deem a car to be dirty, they’ll send someone to clean up and wash that car.
For Modo, one of the best things my friends and I would do is take the car to an automatic car wash. It’s basically like a carnival ride, and best of all, it’s free! Well, Modo will pay for it since if you have the time to take their car for a wash, they’re more than happy to reimburse you for that.
One thing to note is that car2go recently (since June 1st, 2015) started charging an extra $1 every time you start up a car for a rental. It has something to do with lowering each member’s deductible. They say that after 91+ trips, this fee becomes $0, but honestly I don’t think I’ll reach 91 trips. So now I just try picking up an Evo if one’s available nearby.
Evos advertise themselves as a car that you can take 4 friends with you on outdoor excursions (a Toyota Prius Hybrid). That was a big benefit over car2gos, since they used to be an exclusively smart car fleet. Now they’ve added a few (mind you not a lot. As of the time of this post, it’s at 25) Mercedes-Benz B-class vehicles that can fit five people in total to even out the game.
Modo and Zipcars have a wide variety of vehicles. As I said, we’ve rented from Modo a Prius, one of those gross looking square-ish cars (a Nissan cube?), minivans, regular economy cars— you name it. Zipcars also has a variety of cars in their arsenal, but different cars have different hourly rates attached to them, unlike Modo’s flat fee for all their cars.
I’m no expert at car shares, and most of my info on Zipcar I Googled to compare since I’ve never used them. I did have an offer at my workplace to get a Zipcar membership for cheaper, but it didn’t compare to the free memberships I got through my university promos. Plus their yearly fee is way more expensive than the $2 I pay for my current car shares.
I first started with car2go, happy that I was able to rent a car despite not being 19+ years old. As long as I had driven for 3 years (including my learner license years), they were cool with having me on board. Since then, it’s nice to have the option to drive if I have to. Hopefully the below chart shows more of a side-by-side comparison for you and summarizes things a bit!
Good luck finding a car share in Vancouver! 🙂
I just got back from my trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!
It was my first time in Mexico, and hopefully not my last because it was loads of fun! A good balance of do-nothing-days and activity packed ones.
The resort we stayed at was Plaza Pelicanos Club, and it’s all inclusive with unlimited drinks (from either their bar, or either of their poolside bars), food buffet, and two more formal restaurants to choose from. Keep in mind that tipping is an extra expense you should factor in when you go to an all-inclusive!
One thing I wasn’t expecting was the lack of air con. Except for our hotel rooms, the eating areas, as well as basically everything else, didn’t have air conditioning.
Nonetheless, it was great having a private beach area, pools to choose from, and we even ended up getting a massage! The resort was nice. Again, only complaint was the lack of air conditioning, which I ended up getting used to halfway through my vacation. There are also vendors, usually dressed in all white to lessen the impact of the sun, who sold trinkets, snacks and henna tattoos on the beach, despite it being a private area of the beach. I’m guessing they have some sort of deal with the hotels.
Anyway, I didn’t mind them. They do usually try to make eye contact and get you to look at their wares, but I thought they had cool stuff. I never really bought anything from them except for skewered shrimp— these things are so delicous! By the end of my vacation, I had bought eight of these things. No kidding. The fresh lime juice, as well as the hot sauce, made these barbecued shrimps so amazing.
It’s funny how much Mexico reminded me of Hong Kong. Mainly it’s due to the humid weather— always feeling slightly sticky. I miss Hong Kong, and am overdue for a visit 😦
In Puerto Vallarta, we did touristy things, as well as a few things that were probably not on a usual tourist’s to-do list. For one, we visited Pitillal, a nearby town where all the locals lived outside of the hotel zone. My boyfriend and I bussed to the town, first getting on the wrong bus, then finally on the right one. You can bet we were sweating buckets.
In the town there were loads of vendors, many that sold clothes, reminding me of Hong Kong’s street stalls. There were many restaurants, offering fresh tacos, morning gruel (I actually don’t know what the locals were eating in the mornings, but it seemed to be some sort of congee/oatmeal mixture?), and cold drinks. We walked around, admiring the low key architecture, and marveling at how many animals ran stray in the streets!
Our trip to Pitillal was very tiring, but I’m glad we ventured out!
We also visited a few malls in Puerto, including Plaza Caracol, which was about 2 blocks away from our hotel. We frequently walked over there after the sun set, since they’re opened quite late and walking at night is so much better than the morning! We also went to Gallerias Vallarta, which although looked quite fancy, wasn’t super exciting. I liked Caracol more, because it feels more authentic. There’s small stores selling clothes, shoes, candy (for cheap!), whereas Gallerias was taken up by Liverpool, a huge department store, and had more name brands that we were already familiar with.
This post will end up being way too long if I squeezed in everything on here, so I’ll separate my posts 🙂
In my next posts: ATV-ing, Cafe Des Artistes, and downtown Puerto!
Yesterday I went to a joint workshop hosted by 3DHubs and Autodesk. My work actually paid for me to go, but honestly the event was super cheap— $15!
The end goal of the workshop was to familiarize us with Autodesk Fusion 360, and for us to create our own lampshade! I wish I could attach a screenshot of my finished product here (it’s not that amazing, but still, I made it!), but it’s on my laptop so I don’t have access to it right now. 
One of the coolest things aside from learning a bit of design was checking out the Vancouver MakerLabs. Walking in to 780 East Cordova, you’re met with a vast warehouse-like space that’s filled with goodies. There’s people working at the 3D printers, there’s someone in a corner sculpting something, and the whole places radiated creativity and inspiration. They’ve got cool pieces laying around from makers.
Handmade wooden chairs!
Asides from that, there were plenty of breaks during the lesson since the facilitators had to make sure everyone was on the same page in their design. During these breaks, I went and talked to some of the people at the workshop. Not everyone there had loads of experience in design, and there were a few that had never touched a design program before. But then there were some people who were designing the craziest stuff! There was someone there who was a design professor at a college, and she was creating this wonderful boat designed for 3D printing, and then to be integrated with electrical engineering to power it. What?!?!? So great!
I’m definitely up for more of these events. It was a great way to spend a portion of my Saturday! Anyone know of more meetups/workshops over weekends?!
I remember Khatsahlano last year. It was under the blazing sun, and the whole festival felt like a struggle to stay hydrated. I was super sticky after a day of checking out the performances and moving from vendor to vendor! This year was the exact opposite. The day started off a little gloomy, and then it started to drizzle. Honestly though, it was more enjoyable as an attendee for it to be cool, than super hot in my opinion. A little rain never hurt anyone. Of course, for the vendors (especially all the ones trying to sell drinks), it clearly caused a dip in business. That’s not to say the festival wasn’t busy. Quite the opposite!
There were music performances (duh— that’s what the whole festival is about), performers (Harrison Lee for one, the yoyo master), and lots of vendors. I ended up getting a few things! A cute Princess Leia bookmark, hand painted by Luiza Salazar, a fancy soap with shell-shaped little soaps on it from Sum Inspiration, and cookie butter from Pirate Joe’s. If you’re a Vancouverite, you should know Pirate Joe’s story. Love it!
https://instagram.com/p/5BOL_7zcbf/?taken-by=kalyrical
One interesting stretch of Khatsahlano was the Etsy Marketplace! It’s where they got a bunch of Etsy stores to come alive— taking a break from their online sales to sell things in person. It wasn’t the busiest part of the street party, but it’s interesting.
We then saw a camera crew running around and realized it was Carlos from YTV! He’s been the host of that channel ever since I was just a kid. Saw him again on TV the other day. Kind of surreal seeing him in the flesh.
And that was that. A wet day, but I probably liked it better than if it was a super hot one 🙂
– Karen
Karen K. Lee 