Travel Etiquette, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Hello and Thank you: We here in Canada tend to be polite (maybe too polite) but who cares, we are proud of this image of being too polite especially in today's mixed up crazy world. There are exceptions of course. But why let the bad apples in society dictate how the rest of us think and how we like to be treated. We will not follow their lead. When visiting BC, you will notice that most of us tend to say "Hello" and "Thank you" consistently. We, like you, appreciate being told when we do a nice gesture like letting you in at a traffic line up when traffic is heavy (give a courtesy wave back), opening the door for you at the super market (say thank you) or we meet in a restaurant (say Hello). We do not bite back. How tough is it to be nice to each other. Not tough at all!

Exchange to Canadian Currency: Make things easier on yourself. The world markets are not exactly easy to follow, always changing. So exchange your currency to Canadian dollars and cents. Get a kick out of the Loonie and Twoonie Coin Dollars. Some of the B&B's and smaller activity companies and seaside villages are not equipped to handle the exchange rates. It would be appreciated by many and make your trip that much easier.

Flashing Green Stop Lights: Confusing description eh. You will see them once in awhile as you are driving from community to community. The flashing green light is a "Pedestrian Crosswalk". It stays flashing green so you can continue to drive through the crosswalk and do not need to stop, but once a pedestrian pushes the crosswalk button the green light turns solid red stopping the traffic letting the pedestrian cross. Do not stop your vehicle on a green light or you might get a rude awakening from behind by another car.

Do NOT Feed the Wildlife: Yes, baby bears look cuddly. Yes, the deer fawns are cute. Yes, the billy goats are curious. Yes, seagulls are attracted to your food. But feeding them is doing no one any favours. Our wildlife is meant to survive and live in it's natural environment. The local wildlife is not accustomed to people throwing food at them. This draws the wildlife into our communities looking for garbage therefore endangering people. The wildlife is unpredictable and should not be approached and fed any food making them more humanized. Do not get out of the car at any time when wildlife approaches (bears, elk, cougars, etc.) as this may cause them to become defensive and aggressive. Wildlife is very temperamental.

Do NOT Litter: This is a HUGE pet-peeve. How hard is it to hold onto your garbage until you reach the next community, scenic look out with garbage cans or a park washroom to dispose of your litter. Our BC environment is heavily reliant on keeping it clean while trying to maintain a natural healthy environment. Keeping our parks, beaches, trails, highways and communities clean and litter free is important to the quality of life we enjoy. Often garbage attracts wildlife and dangerous situations. We have implemented harsh penalties for littering with maximum fines reaching $2000 Canadian in some areas. Keep your trash to yourself please until an appropriate location is available.

Gratuity appreciated: If you are happy with the service and the server was polite and the restaurant quality of food for the buck was good. Then tip your server. Do not be a scrooge. Most restaurants establishments do not include the tip or gratuity on the bills. Many are paid minimum wage and survive on their tips. Most of the people in the hospitality industry work hard and long and often can be over looked or taken for granted. If the service you received from any of our eating establishments, accommodations and/or tour guides help make your visit enjoyable, please show your appreciation. If they are rude or expect a tip and give poor service .... then no tip is required. Tip for good polite service, not out of necessity.

Blinker Stinker: Rent an RV or vehicle, we sure know you will enjoy the road trip scenery, the communities and attractions. But if you are going to be a "Rubber Tire Tourist" then use all your tools available, like a blinker. These tail lights indicate the intention of your driving direction and what lane you are going to stay in or turn off of. Now... we realize we are a laid back bunch here on the Island but we can not read your mind when you are going to turn or stop your vehicle. Us Locals sometimes do not set a good example but that is no excuse. The flashing signal is a good way to help us through our day and gets you through yours.

Single Lane Bumper to Bumper: It seems so simple and logical, this little tidbit of courtesy. BC has many long roads with wicked corners leading from town to town lined with breathe taking scenery. Some of the roads are one lane highways with little opportunity to pass a slow moving vehicle like a rented RV or rental car that is moving at a ridiculous slow speed and not sure where it is going. When a line up starts to form behind the vehicle of 10+ other vehicles, bumper to bumper, just flick the blinkers on and pull over to the curb and let everyone pass. A nice act like this, letting everyone pass, will be appreciated by all the people behind who are trying to get to work or visit love ones. Then go ahead, resume your slow speed with no one riding your bumper and take all the necessary time you need to enjoy all the beautiful wilderness scenery until the line up appears again then repeat the pull over sequence.

Wildlife has the Right of Way... Wildlife does not use crosswalks. Wildlife is frozen when met by your headlights. Wildlife does not look twice before crossing the road. Deer, elk, bears, birds, raccoons, wolfs, cougars and other wildlife frequently use our highways for travel as most of our highways go through their backyards. Wildlife tends to hind in bushes until they dart out onto the roads to cross giving no warning. They are not house hold pets that are trained.

Passing Lane Highways: Our major highways have two lanes going each way. Some of the one lane highways, the minor highways, have what we call "passing lanes" every few kilometres. These extra lanes enable faster cars to pass by slower moving vehicles. It is crucial that you always stay right on these two lane highways except to pass another vehicle. Always leave the passing lane open. Do not clog up the highway by traveling slow in the left lane. Remember the fable of the Hare and the Tortoise? Well then...

Large Logging Trucks... Winding roads through rainforest, mountain valleys leads to a lot of big corners scaling up and down hills leaving a driver with many blind corners and limited views of oncoming traffic. We have many massive logging vehicles on our roads -fantastic drivers they are - as long as you stay on your side of the road. So to be caught snoozing at the wheel of a vehicle in BC with it`s mountains, cliffs, oceans, bridges and winding roads is not a good idea. All vehicles lose when met head on by a logging truck.

B.C. Travel Guide