My husband and I have decided we are sick of paying rent, bills, etc and just our lives in general. We feel like we are getting nowhere and are stuck in a rut, so we are hitting the road with our 2 kids (age 4 years, and age 3 months at the moment) and travelling around Australia for a while. We are planning on long term, no particular time frame, just until we have had enough.
We homeschool, so education for the kids is not an issue.
Has anyone travelled long term and have any advice?
RV vs Caravan? Pros/Cons?
Advice for travelling with young children?
Advice for getting work on the road?
Any general advice for whilst we are out and about?
Many thanks
6 Replies
Its bloody expensive. Makw sure you have done all the planning or youll end up coming home with a tonne of debt or money spent and still need to set up a home and start again, you wont be better off than you are now.
I would advise going overseas for a few month. Somewhere cheap enough that you can do everything, go everywhere and afford to buy cooked meals and have laundry done for you etc, make it easier on you.
Have you travelled Australia?
I know a few people who have tried this but they've generally given up after a while...I haven't tried it myself though. I would definitely wait until the kids are older though.
Just a few things to think about, are you going to have enough money while you pay for rent or your mortgage or whatever you have at home? Or will you sell the house and if so, if you do decide the caravan life isn't for you do you have a back up place to live before you get another house? Do you think you will make enough with only one of you working at a time so the other can look after the kids? Do you have a back up plan in case one of you gets sick and you're either not near a doctor or hospital, or the doctor doesn't take new patients and you are away from a hospital (that happens quite a bit especially in small towns)? Do you have back up money in case the caravan breaks down? Do you have a back up plan in case you can't find any work while on the road?
There is a lot to think about and plan around. Good luck with it all.
Checkout the fb pages of A Trip in a Van & ytravelblog for how they are able to travel full time and get paid to do it.
If your travelling with children I recommend an RV capable of towing a small car. Go from place to place an hour at a time. Cheaper on petrol everyday and you get to see more and don’t feel as jet lagged.
Make maps and worksheets based on the places your going. Make it a fun learning experience that’s outside “classroom”based learning. It’s expensive, but if you do it correctly it can be cheaper than renting.
Make sure you’ve got a good power source to operate a fridge/microwave and utilise free camping sites for bbqs and washing stations.
Look at Aldi for the pedal style washing machine bucket.
Wash daily to cut down on space takers (such as clothes hampers) and only take 4 of every crockery. (1for each person, and maybe 1 spare)
4wd and off road camper trailer
Almost 2 years
3 kids - 10,7,3
We unschooled
No plans, just went wherever the wind took us, or the weather forced us 😂
We didn’t work but there is plenty of work out there, so long as you’re prepared to do whatever
That was ten years ago. There are so many families doing it these days, it’s become quite mainstream
Our set up meant we could go anywhere, easier to tow than a big van, cheaper to buy and cheaper on fuel. The faster you move the higher your fuel costs will be. Being self sufficient will be cheaper so you can free camp
It was life changing for us, but that’s what we wanted. Sold up everything. We never went back.Relocated to another state.
Join the fb group “travelling Australia with kids”