"You're going to do what?" was the main response we received when we began to tell people we were about to sell our new home and all our belongings, pull the kids out of school and head for a life in a caravan living with no fixed address, travelling Australia. To some people this is opting for a life of homelessness. For us it's a life of freedom. See we have a home, its a 22ft double bunk caravan towed with a 2022 Ford Ranger. We're not homeless, just houseless and we couldn't be happier.
Some say this lifestyle is only for the wealthy. "It'd be nice to have that kind of money" they say. What we hope to show people is that this lifestyle is not a pipe dream. We thought so for about seven years. I first heard of this being an option when I came across a family selling their DVD's of their trip. I believe they called it "The Big Lap". I purchased the DVD set and my husband and I sat and watched them all, we were sold on the idea, but not convinced it would ever be possible for us. We had two young children and a business that had mounting debt due to builders going bankrupt and not paying their bills.
At every fork in the road, over the last eight years, we turned to each other and asked the question: "Is now the time we do this?". It was constantly a no. We didn't have enough money to buy a van, the kids had important medical therapies or programs to complete, a new job, new career move, new study plan. The list went on and each time we had to evaluate what we wanted out of life. We focussed on the kids needs. I focussed on my studies and my career growth and hubby went to work each day settled in a decent job.
While our focus was elsewhere, we maintained that a travelling lifestyle was always something we wanted, if we could ever make it happen. We watched all the YouTube family vloggers escaping into their video's wishing it could be us. We continued to dream of a day when this might become a reality. And so, anytime we had to make a big decision we would make assess the decision against one simple criteria: "if we choose this option, would it get in the way of our dream to travel Australia". If the answer was "no", then we would choose this option. Overtime though, our lives became busier, and we found ourselves succumbing to other people's scheduling demands: with the kids schooling, after school activities, appointments, social and family events, work requirements, the list goes on.
We had a great life, but our schedule was not our own, we had limited opportunities to do the things that filled our cups: camping, fishing, exploring, spending quality time together. Then covid hit and our accumulated decisions over the past three years evolved into opening a door to finally assessing the question once again: "Is now the time?", to which we both responded: "We can't ignore that this is the best opportunity to go, if we ever had one". Now some might be wondering "did we win the lottery". I wish, we didn't have much but we had enough to buy our caravan. It's second hand, a few years old and had several owners, but it ticks all the boxes for us.
We still need to work and have a regular income. We don't rely on Centrelink and we hope to be able to earn a digital income to ensure it stays this way. We homeschool our boys, which has been an amazing experience and one I can't wait to write more about. At the time of writing this we are 12 weeks into this lifestyle. I am working in a small country town and hubby has a couple of days work a week. We will be here for a few more months and then head further north.
If you want to follow our lifestyle journey, we hope to capture it as best we can on YouTube @NoFixedAddressAUS. Our goal is to deliver relatable information for the average family, who dream of living a travelling lifestyle. It's not a pipe dream, after all.
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