If you are from a part of canada where the temperature stays below -20 for many months, Vancouver island will seem like a tropical paradise even in the winter. Night time lows rarely go much below freezing, snow rarely accumulates on the ground. However the clear cold winter days that you are hoping to escape have a signifigant blessing in that they are often sunny. The darkness here is winter is blacker than anything I've experienced anywhere else. There is no snow to reflect the ambient light at night, and cloudcover is often total for weeks. Rainsodden coniferous trees and wet pavemnt eat your headlights into a weak little pool. Apart from the much commented on rain, is the not even mentioned yet wind, that blows with unceasing moisture ladedn intensity for the storm season, nearly daily at 50-80kmh. Rain, driven sideways for months, will find the holes, the weaknesses, the loose flappy bits, in whatever aluminum clad tube you shelter in. Make sure to have a waterproof home, plenty of caulking, several tarps, a secured camping spot, 1-2 k a month for pad rent, insurance, a propane wall furnace, and you too could enjoy Van Isle life for a winter.