Furnished or unfurnished?

As someone who moves around a lot I have been confronted with the question of an unfurnished or a furnished home quite a few times. It was once considered a no-brainer for me.
When you are only staying somewhere for a short amount of time then you would rather take something furnished so you don't have to buy furniture that, at the end of your stay, you will not know what to do with or have to pay exhorbitant amounts of money to move it around.
When you are staying somewhere for good, you want to build your own home.
See no problem right?

The problem, for me, is in the situation I find myself now.
I am in Vancouver to study, but I want to stay here after school. This all depends on if I can get a job and a visa. The thing is I am, in a certain light preparing to settle down here.
Now comes the problem of the furnished apartment.
No matter what, in every furnished apartment I've lived in, I can never really feel like I'm at home...
This wouldn't bother me so much if it didn't accentuate certain unpleasant things like home sickness and loneliness and such.

It is a difficult question.