Opinion: How to be single in Vancouver

Sure relationships are great, you get to expand your social circle, try new things; and of course, who doesn’t love splitting rent with another human being?

But you can do all that as a single person too.

For a lot of people being single in your 20s and 30s can be one of the best experiences of your life.

Nonetheless learning how to be single can be a difficult adjustment, especially when all your friends are already starting to pair off and settle down. But living in Vancouver provides a pretty great lifestyle for bachelors and bachelorettes, so why not enjoy it while you can?

The first step to single life is finding single friends

Of course you can still keep all your married and dating friends, but we’ve all heard couples complain about how busy they are, and you know they feel bad inviting you to be their third, fifth, or even seventh wheel.

Luckily, contrary to popular belief, Vancouver is bustling with singles, and they’re not hard to find. Websites such as meetup.com have hundreds of singles activities you can join for the sole purpose of making friends. Sure you might hit it off with the right person, but that’s not the point of this site. Instead you’ll end up meeting loads of cool people who won’t want to talk about relationships for the entire evening.

Join the nightlife

You don’t have to go to a nightclub to enjoy the great nightlife Vancouver has to offer. With all the local craft breweries around you can spend an evening out mingling with only the raddest of hipsters, or hit up the streets of Gastown and spend the night watching a comedy show with friends.

You see, there’s more to single life than late nights in dimly lit clubs. But if that’s your jam then there’s plenty of that on offer too. 

Be the glue that holds your friend group together

Every friendship group benefits from having one dedicated singleton who organizes the hangouts. So why can’t that be you? Not only do you get to feel like a demigod walking around the party being everyone’s best friend, you also get to have a great time and meet new people through your friends’ social circles.

Humour your friends, go on dates sometimes

Since most of your friends are probably in relationships they’re going to feel compelled to set you up on dates with total strangers: “My boyfriend’s friend knows a single girl, it sounds like she’d be perfect for you!” Be warned they may also want to try and live vicariously through your singledom and steal your phone, totally messing up your swiping algorithm on POF and Tinder in the process.

But while they can’t force you out of the single life, every now and then you should let them live their dream of setting you up with “the perfect person.” They’ll feel so fulfilled and at the very worst dealing with the occasional awkward evening is better than constantly listening to your friends’ nagging.

Do things for you

One of the best parts of being single is that you are your top priority. It doesn’t matter what your partner wants to eat for dinner, because you don’t have one. Spend a few hours cooking up your favourite meal, or draw yourself a steamy bath – whatever you choose no one’s opinions can get in the way.

Find some hobbies

The reality of single life is that you’ll have a lot of extra spare time you have to fill. Netflix is only fun for so long before you end scrolling through endless lists of garbage. Why not join a pottery class and make your one smoking friend an ashtray, heck make everyone an ashtray for when that one friend is around.

Stay in shape

Working out stimulates your body’s natural endorphins increasing your positive wellbeing. You’ll feel good, look good, and actually have enough time to go the distance. Buy yourself a bike, start trail running, hit up the gym – the possibilities are endless.

Spend your money on you!

Anniversaries and birthdays add up, throw Valentine’s Day in there too and you could have yourself a problem. But not when you’re single! Relish in the joy that every dollar you earn goes straight back to you. Gone are the days of your boyfriend/girlfriend piggybacking their expenses onto your bills. “Oh honey can you get dinner?” NOPE! You only have to pay for you.