Living On The Road

[Cuppa]

As for vehicle I guess well try what we have first. The car and camper setup..

Makes sense. As long as that suits the misses you'll be right.

On work again, with the skills you have you'd be amazed at how in demand you would be in most of the small outback towns. Carry your tools, do a job that you pick up at the local watering hole for someone, & word spreads like wildfire. And they'll look after you too. The problem you'll have will be leaving town! They just can't get folk out to those places. We met a group of 3 enterprising young 20 year old blokes travelling around just doing house painting. Visit a town, put out the word, get some interest, return with paint a few weeks later to do the job. Had far more demand than they could meet. Same for anyone a bit handy & willing to have a go. It's a different world out there.

Cuppa

[threedogs]

x 2 with Cuppa being able to weld, a good knoweldge of plumbing, more a jack of all,
plus coming from Melb and playing AFL I could walk into any job I wanted.
Met some awesome ppl , and been to some strange and wonderful places as well.
Just sitting in the Birdsville Pub in 92 I could have had a back hoe ops job.
There are jobs everywhere some worth sticking around for, my wife wouldn't be in it
But I'd do it at the drop of a hat if I could.

[NP99]

Plus the tax man doesn't need to know about those welding jobs on the road!

[Cuppa]

the wife once joked about packing up and just going.......<big snip>.........CONVINCE MY WIFE.

It occurs to me that perhaps she doen't need convincing, she suggested it! Maybe all she needs is reassurance? (I think I was a bit like that, & in the end the two of us reassured each other).

Cuppa

[Maxhead]

Put a big sign on the car or caravan advertising your business, declare some of the work and enjoy some tax benefits like claiming for your diesel, maintenance, etc. Win win situation

[BigRAWesty]

Well you guys are basically saying what I'm thinking.. I don't think will be an issue..

It occurs to me that perhaps she doen't need convincing, she suggested it! Maybe all she needs is reassurance? (I think I was a bit like that, &amp; in the end the two of us reassured each other).

Cuppa

Spot on Cuppa. Its just making that jump that's the issue..

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[Stropp]

Yeh Kallen, that's the thing MAKING the jump from the comfort zone to the unknown, when you do it I'm sure you will love it, I would try to keep the house for a start just to make sure you are ok with everything prior to selling, good luck mate and when you get to WA look us up. Also pm dark1 he is doing exactly what you want to do!

[BigRAWesty]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. You have given us a lot to think about.. but...
Wifey said yes.. It was her idea to start with so this is awesome..
And you guys helped.. I left this thread open and she read threw it.. lol

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[happygu]

Most people who do a trip like this say it was the best time of their lives, especially if you are all on the same page. However, I know of others who have gone for 12 months and been back in 9.....met one family on the road with a near teenage daughter who was as grumpy as about being away from home and not being with her friends.

My wife and I moved up to Alice Springs for two years, stayed for three, before my wife got itchy feet to come home to Melbourne.


The catalyst for me after talking through it for months with other people was the one person that asked me 'if you don't do it now, will you regret it for the rest of your life'.
That clinched the deal for me and we loved it
Mic

[Cuppa]

Wifey said yes.

Yeeehaaa!

Now that's decided you'll find your own way of doing it,
One thing however........ Do have some money put aside as an 'emergency kitty'. How much will depend on what suits you. For us we decided that we needed enough to cover the cost of our engine blowing up ( about the most expensive mechanical disaster I could imagine) & enough to get back home on a bus or plane if the wheels really fell off.

We did meet several folk who had hit hard times when travelling, & had no back up plan. These were folks who had suffered major mechanical breakdown, illl health etc, & had become financially 'marooned' in caravan parks, with no means of moving on, only able to continue to survive where they were as a 'permanent', often exploited by the park to supplement their government pension. The thought of being 'out there' with no choices would be a nightmare I reckon, but is reality for more than a few.

In 2008/9 we managed quite comfortably on an average weekly spend of $500 for the two of us. Some weeks as low as $300 others $700. This was for everything except fuel.
We had, over 5 years bought the bus, fitted it out & saved every dollar we could. We lived & breathed the forthcoming trip, it was all that mattered. We left our home in the care of friends house sitting for us, & with around $70,000 total in our funds, divided into 3 budgets. Living expenses, fuel, & emergency kitty. I worked out what I thought would be the maximum number of kilometres we might do, & put fuel money in a separate account. That way I didn't have to worry about fuel, I just used the card whenever I bought it, confident that we had enough to 'get round'. We did a bit over 45,000kms, had a new motor, alternator, & a couple of tyres fitted, were away for 18 months, didn't do any work, & arrived back home with $20,000 left.
However, we own our home, & were debt free, just a few standing orders to be paid which we had also saved for (including covering my wife's superannuation payments). These were not included in our travelling budget but meant we could travel freely without having to be concerned about bills back home.

There were folk out on the road spending far more than us to travel, & folk managing on a fair bit less. As a general rule the faster you travel, the more expensive it is, the more tiring it is & the least satisfying.
The travellers I recall being most impressed with were an elderly couple, both in their late 70’s, pulling a tiny 'L'il Nipper rear door caravan with a Subaru wagon, with a pair of kayaks on top. They were getting by on the age pension. Their style was to set up camp (had a little awning under which they spread out all their belongings, a place for everything) & would stay there until next pension day, when they could afford to travel a max of about 100kms. They used their mobile phone's daily free hour to catch up with all their travelling friends, & to arrange meet ups. They were having a ball & were the centre of activities around the camp. I asked them if they ever got a bit bored. "No dear, we did all the big ticket items years ago, now we just get out on the road for the social side of things, doesn't really matter where we are, as long as we're out here, & not sitting back home staring at four walls". They were on the road for 6 months of every year, squirreling away what they could of their pension whilst at home.
They knew more about & had seen more of Australia than anyone else I've met.

Cuppa