Why Live Elsewhere?

About two years ago, we did something that, at first glance, didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

We left our condo.

But wait: we didn’t sell it. 😆

We rented it out, with pretty much everything in it.

The furniture stayed. The dishes too. The couch, the TV, the pots and pans, the stuff you accumulate without really knowing why… it was all there.

We, on the other hand, left with one suitcase each.

Well… one suitcase each and a backpack… and probably way too many clothes 😄.

And that’s more or less when our “living elsewhere” adventure began.

But why leave?

The question comes up often.

Why leave home when everything is going relatively well?

Why go live thousands of kilometres away when you already have a condo, a routine, and a comfortable life?

The answer isn’t particularly complicated.

We wanted to see what it would be like.

We wanted to have more time, discover other ways of living, and above all, not wait for some hypothetical “later” to start enjoying life more.

Because “later” is kind of a funny concept.

We work now to have time later.

Then, when later arrives, we wonder where the last few years went.

So we said to ourselves: why not try to reclaim some of it now?

Living elsewhere isn’t being on vacation

That’s probably the first thing we understood.

Spending two weeks in a hotel is a vacation.

Spending several months somewhere is something else.

You have to do the grocery shopping.
Do the laundry.
Figure out where to buy toilet paper.
Understand how transportation works.
Find a doctor when you need one.
Wonder why Google Maps keeps taking you through an alley that seems specifically designed to test your courage. 😂

In short, you live there.

And that’s exactly what we love about it.

After a few weeks, you start building routines.

You know the little café around the corner.
You recognize people in the neighbourhood.
You know where to do the grocery shopping.
You discover the good restaurants… and the ones you’ll probably never go back to.
You start understanding how daily life works.

And suddenly… when the barista at your favourite café shouts a big HOLA LUC! as you walk in… you realize you’re not really tourists anymore 😄.

Why Mexico?

Mexico quickly became an important part of our new way of living.

We spent several months there and fell in love with so many things: the climate, the food, the cities, the people, the energy, the chance to live outside for a good part of the year…

And above all, that feeling that you can take your time.

We particularly love not having to fill every day with activities.

You can simply go for a walk.
Sit down somewhere.
Have a coffee.
Run a few errands.
Discover a new street.
And head back home.

Yes, “head back home.”

Even if that home is sometimes an apartment rented for a few weeks or a few months.

That’s probably one of the things that surprised us the most.

Our idea of home has become so much bigger.

So, what does “living elsewhere” really mean?

For us, it’s not necessarily about moving for good.

It’s not about becoming nomads with two suitcases on our backs until we’re 85, either. We’ll still need somewhere to put our stuff. 😆

It’s simply about giving ourselves the chance to change scenery for part of the year.

A few months here.
A few months elsewhere.
Back to Quebec.
Leaving again.
Discovering a new city.
Going back to a city we love.

And above all, not feeling like our life has to take place in the same spot from January 1st to December 31st.

And our YouTube channel in all of this?

That’s actually where Luc ‘n’ Steve on Leave came from.

At first, we mainly wanted to keep memories and share what we were doing.

Then we started filming more.

Our trips.
Our cities.
Our places.
Our discoveries.
Our little everyday moments.

And we realized what we love most is showing the real life behind the travel.

Not just the pretty pictures.

Because yes, a beach at sunset is beautiful.

But knowing how much groceries cost, how to get around, which neighbourhood we liked, where we found an interesting place to stay, or what completely got on our nerves… that’s part of the journey too. 😂

That’s what we want to share.

And money in all of this?

There’s a bit of it involved.

But there’s really a question behind it.

How much money do we actually need to live the life we want?

That’s a question that interests us more and more.

We’re interested in financial freedom, early retirement, the cost of living, and all the ways to work less without necessarily wanting to live in a tent with three dollars and a houseplant.

For us, the goal was never to become extremely rich just to watch our bank account grow.

Money is interesting mostly for what it can buy us:

time.

Time together.
Time to travel.
Time to discover.
Time to choose where we want to be.

And maybe, incidentally, time to not set an alarm tomorrow morning. 😉

We don’t know exactly where we’re going

And that’s okay.

We don’t have a perfectly defined plan for the next ten years. In fact… we don’t even know where we’ll be in December yet 😱

We simply know we love this way of living.

We love Quebec.
We love Mexico.
We love leaving.

And, surprisingly, we also love coming back.

We’ll probably keep experimenting, changing our plans, discovering new places, and trying to find the best balance between living, working as little as possible, and enjoying our time.

After all, we’ve already started.

Two years ago, we closed the condo door, left our furniture behind, and took off with two suitcases.

We thought we’d just be gone for a few months.

In the end, we discovered something much more interesting:

we didn’t need to leave everything behind to live differently.

We just had to be willing to go.

Welcome to Luc ‘n’ Steve

That’s what it is, ultimately: Luc ‘n’ Steve on Leave.

A YouTube channel, a blog, and now a little corner of the Internet where we can share what we discover as we try to live a little differently.

We’ll talk about travel, destinations, housing, the cost of living, financial freedom, early retirement, and all the little things that make this adventure interesting.

We’re not experts.

We’re just Luc and Steve.

Two guys who rented out their condo, left their furniture where it was, and took off with two suitcases.

And who still sometimes wonder how we managed to fit so much stuff into those two suitcases. 😆

Welcome to our adventure.

Welcome to our way of living elsewhere.