Documentary made about two Kelowna brothers chasing their dream in Nicaragua

Two brothers from Kelowna packed up their lives in 2008 and moved to Nicaragua with $1,000, with a dream to open an action sports resort. Twelve years later, the Boychuks now run two resorts in two countries, with a third set to open by the end of the year.

And now, the brothers have released a documentary on Amazon Prime showing the whole adventure from Day 1.

Lucas Boychuk says he and his brother Travis's idea stemmed from a conversation between the two in their parents' hot tub, when they were 19 and 21 years old.

“We came up with a wild idea of starting the world's first actions sports resort, but we had no money and no idea where to start,” Lucas said. “So we booked two tickets to Nicaragua that night, and two weeks later, we were in Nicaragua looking for land to build the resort.”

With just $1,000, the pair were able to put a down payment on a piece of property, so they returned to Canada, worked at a gas station for a year, and paid off the rest of the land.

They've been living in Central America ever since, and they now run a second resort in Costa Rica. Their largest resort, a second one in Nicaragua, is currently under construction, and they plan to open it by the end of the year. 

Over the past 12 years, they've been filming the whole adventure.

“We never even thought we would finish the first resort at that time, but over the year, we kept filming everything,” Lucas said. A few years ago, he started editing a film together, but he lost all his progress after a hard drive crashed on him.

Earlier this year, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the brothers suddenly found themselves with some free time for once.

“I searched our bodega for days, looked in all of our old suitcases, bags, and gathered all of the memory cards, USBs, computers that we had, and spent one month just going through video,” he said. “I then just dedicated myself to editing it every day for three months or so, sometimes 18-hour days.

“The main reason I wanted to do it was so we can give others inspiration to leave their comfort zone and go start something they have always wanted to do.”

The Boychuks were last in Kelowna visiting family over Christmas.

“There's a lot of things I miss in Canada, but when you are gone for so long, I think after year three or so, you start to forget all the things and become more accustomed to the new country you are living in,” Lucas said. “When I go back to Canada though, it's a culture shock. Same feeling as when I came to Nicaragua for the first time, the roles have just reversed.”

The documentary is currently playing on Amazon Prime, but only for U.S. and U.K. Residents. Lucas says they're currently working to get it on other platforms, but those in Canada can check out their YouTube page, where the documentary will one day be posted.