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Vancouver on the Cheap: The Vancouver Inspiration Passport

If you were to create a Venn diagram where one circle was labeled "cheap" and the other labeled "awesome", the middle point where they cross over could be labeled "Vancouver on the Cheap".

If you were to create a Venn diagram where one circle was labeled "cheap" and the other labeled "awesome", the middle point where they cross over could be labeled "Vancouver on the Cheap". In other words, this is a weekly series on things to do and places to go in Vancouver that fall into that magical category of being both cheap and awesome.

I have wanted to say something about the Vancouver Public Library on here for pretty much a hundred years. (The fact that I have only existed for 28 years, this blog for significantly less than that, and my contributions to this blog for much less than that notwithstanding - I stand by my statement of a hundred years.)

Really, the is VPL the best, and probably only, truly free service provided to Vancouverites today. My struggle with doing a post about it was, well, free book borrowing is not exactly a new thing. Sure there's DVDs and CDs there too, plus free WiFi, computer use, and even some cool educational opportunities, and I don't want to belittle the awesomeness of those things, but still, is it news? Libraries have been doing their thing for so long it's just become a part of the fabric of our society.

Luckily, now there is something legitimately new to report! This week the Vancouver Public Library launched the Vancouver Experience Passport. This little card gets you in to all sorts of establishments in this fine city, allowing you to experience a multitude of what Vancouver has to offer, for FREE!

The full list of businesses that accept the Vancouver Experience Passport can be found here.

It includes many of the standard organizations you might expect: the Museum of Vancouver, Space Centre, and the Museum of Anthropology, all nice, educational-type facilities that the City would want to encourage us to visit. But wait, there's more! You can go work out, go ice skating, or golfing for free at the Vancouver Parks Board centres (including free equipment rentals), visit a whole host of lesser known, but truly entertaining museums (the Vancouver Police Museum, the creepy Roedde House, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum), and take in some cultural experiences that are normally priced specifically for the bourgeois, like the Vancouver Opera and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra! Amazing! Then, of course, there's our beloved Vancouver Aquarium and Science World - who doesn't love to be a kid again and tromp through those lands of science and discovery?

A few facts about how the pass works:

  • A library card is required to book it, and you must be 14 years or older.
  • Each pass is good for 2 adults and 4 kids (under 18). Great for families, or round up some friends!
  • You take the pass out from the library like you would any book - except that it will be in high demand, so expect to have to request it and be added to a queue.
  • The passes are branch-specific, to ensure that they are evenly distributed around the city. 120 passes total will be released, 5 at each branch and 15 at the Central Branch. You must pick it up and return it to the same branch.
  • Passes are good for two weeks.
  • You can take out the pass once per year with your library card.
  • You can visit each attraction once per use on the card (so you unfortunately can't go work out every day for two weeks for free).
  • When you pick up your pass you'll get a receipt noting the date it expires - you must have that receipt with your pass for it to be valid.

Booking is easy, if you've never done it before: just go to vpl.ca and search "Vancouver Inspiration Pass" in the catalogue search. Select your nearest branch and click "place a hold". You'll need to log in with your library card number and PIN, and you're good to go. There are already a LOT of requests active for these cards - I'm number 160 for the Mount Pleasant branch. So it's best not to count on specific timing for these, but instead to consider it a bonus gift that will arrive for you at some point in the next few months, surprising you with tons of free gifts!

Some of my top picks for what I'll be checking out with my pass:

I have never visited the fitness centres at the Vancouver community centres - seems about time.

The Vancouver Police Museum - always fun.

I can finally afford the Vancouver Opera!

Never miss an opportunity to see Science World - especially now that it's been renovated! What's new? We will find out!

Where will you go?

PS: Remember the Spice Girls art show I shared with you a while ago? Well those fine ladies are at it again with Drop it Like its Art - a Snoop Dogg art show! Once again by donation, this is a great low-cost way to have a party. Check their facebook event for info.