What's stopping you from doing the big trip

Hi Nick,
Youwill have a ball. Sometimes the first few months aren't easy as you settle into your routine of travelling but it is also the most adventurous part as after a while it becomes your life style rather than a trip. It is still amazing that every corner you turn is something new. Have fun.

Josh

Leaving it open ende is the best way as this is an incredibly huge country with a lot to see. We were going to do it before we had kids but never got there. We are now glad that we have done it with the kids. It has given them memories they will never forget and given us an excuse to do things we wouldn't normally do. Basically be kids again. Hope you enjoy your time on the road.

Josh

Hi Leanne,
Our youngest was three when we left. She can still remember places we went to when we first started out. They learn so much on the road. Don't leave it to long as there is more and more bitumen being laid every day and more and more places being closed. Places that were remote are more accessible but it means anyone can go, even the ones who don't care about the places and leave a mess. We have hiked into some amazing canyons and waterfalls. The girls have handled the hikes incredibly well
(probably better than us). We meet lots of new friends because they meet kids and then we meet the parents. I have found as a family we are so much closer now the before we left as the important things are no longer work and mowing the lawn. If own lawn needs mowing we leave.

Josh

Hi Tristan,
You are right, you do have to look after your future and the future of your children but there has to be a balance. A friend of ours used to drive rally cars, had done for years. He has 4 boys who participate with him. A while back he hurt his back really bad. almost couldn't walk again. I said to him that he must be dissapointed that he can"t race anymore. He said "no, disappointing would have been saving my many all my life to race one day and hurting my back and never getting time to race. Now it is time for my boys to race". His youngest is now coming 3rd in the aust rally championships. When he said that it made me realise that while you do have to have money and provide for your family it is not much use if you don't get to enjoy your family with it. I worked for a guy years ago who when he died was worth millions. At his funeral were the workers from his work who were paid to go, a few customers who received a discount on their next order and his wife and two kids. Money was everything to him. Unfortunately his kids didn't think much of him and are now milking the company for all it's worth. As parents it is our job to provide for our family. I think you will get so much out of your trip, have fun.

Josh

Hi Willem,
Love reading your posts. One thing mate, you have been travelling for longer than I have been alive. I reckon if I do half of what you have done I will be doing well. Your trip articles are great. Will make good reading over the next few days. You certainly have seen some stuff. I thought I was going well having owned 10 vehicles so far, 92 to go. It would be interesting to sit around a fire with you swapping stories, I think you would have a few. Have a great time in the deserts.

Josh

Hi PradOz,
At this stage we will be in cape york by June, currently in Batesman Bay. We will then work our way back down inland abit and be back in Tassie before Christmas. We plan to stop in Tassie for about 2 yrs. We will be in a house while there then we will see what happens. I am not saying we are stopping at the end of this year just taking a break. Most people go on holidays every few yrs, we might try it the other way around and try stopping in a house every few yrs. We did sell our house which we used to partly fiance the trip, trailer and some travel money. We are looking at buying a house in tassie which we would then rent out if(when) we hit the again. We origanly planned 12 months off but realised how big Oz is and we wanted to see as much as we could. We still haven't seen much though in 2 yrs. There is still a lot out there. I don't know if we will ever stop travelling properly. If you don't mind me asking why does the swmbo not want to travel. It was mine who suggested we should go, maybe I'm luckier than I realise. If you ever get the chance grab, you won't regret it.

Josh

hi Josh

have you done any work along the way to fund any part of it or is this one of the reasons why you may stop in Tassie for a while? (re-build the bank balance) also where was the place you once called home, was it tassie?

we have done a few trips to the centre with 7 other car loads, great ocean road 8 other cars and other holidays/trips too. we usually planned on one big trip per year but our plans all went out the window when i badly hurt my spine at work, requiring surgery (on the mend now) then being retrenched by the boss because of it. I couldnt do much after hurting myself and until my operation i was in way too much pain. Now i see a light at the end of the tunnel in regard to being much better off physically so may soon be able to resurrect those travel plans again hopefully. also taken a while to fix the finances after losing my job because of the back injury, very hard sometimes looking after family of 5 in the "sometimes so expensive sydney" when reduced back to the wifes part time wage, but its starting to look much better for us (certainly makes me look at life dfferent now)

I think the wife wouldnt travel extensively whilst the kids are in school. she really has had no contact with anyone that has done home schooling so would take a lot to convince her that it can be worthwhile to change the kids study habits. I think she would also like to see the eldest firmly settled in uni life too as she has only just started. she often says how she wants to see the kids settled/finished school before changing our own lifetyle. i know you cant wait for the kids to do everything before doing your own thing so i suppose its a balancing act for us just for now. i do love the idea of selling up and just driving and living on the road. i loved it in our previous long distance travels and would love it more with no time limits to worry about. in meantime i will keep reading about the great times being had by people like yourselves imagining us being somewhere along the way too at sometime in the future.

i am so happy for you and your family. are you keeping/publishing a diary of your travels at all? funny how when we all look back at our kids we all say how they have grown up so quick. bet if you looked back at the beginning of your journey to now (and again later on) you would notice some big changes in your kids (and even yourselves) i bet a lot of people learn so much more about themselves when out on the road than if they had off stayed at home. some probably even have learnt a few new tricks to being self sufficient etc rather than getting or paying someone to help out all the time - keep on having fun and stay safe

Hi PradOz,
I feel sorry for you with your back. Hurt mine few years back( not as bad as you) had 3 months in bed with it. Made me realise lifes to short to waste. Making the decision to leave everything is hard. But once you are on the road it is soooooooooo worth it.
We originally lived in Warragul in Gippsland which is now very black. A few friends lost houses in the fires. We were kinda glad we didn't still have the house. I had never had long service or anything like it so we took quite a few months off just travelling. This was funded by selling our house. We then picked up odd jobs although at times found it hard to do so. I worked at Roxby Downs for 8 months landscaping which I loved doing.
I now have a job with a company as a sales rep. I do in store demonstrations. The company line up work for me ahead of time, I just tell them where I am going and when I will be there. The best part is I claim my fuel, maintenance and accom on tax. Not a bad perk for doing the big trip. This now funds our trip entirely.
As far as home schooling goes we would never have thought of home schooling until doing this trip. It has been amazing to see how much the girls have learnt. It is good cause we have the time to pick up on areas they lack in.
We are stopping in Tassie for a bit for two reasons. We want to give the girls a breather, Let them take some time out from travel to have pets and make friends that they can see for more than a couple of days. We have really good friends all over Oz. Some we only met for a couple of days or one day for Matt and Caz from exploroz. But these are people we will keep in contact with and endeavour to see again. Also the company I work for want someone down there so I said I would go for 2 yrs then see what happens.
I hope your back gets better and you can start to do the things you want to. We will be in Sydney on Sunday 5th April for the day. Maybe we could catch up if you like for a cuppa, see some photos. Let me know.

Josh

Hi Josh - sorry for delay responding. Hope the travelling is going to plans for you all.

It sounds like you are all having so much fun. Its great to read about others experiences on their holidays/journeys. It gives so much inspiration and information to help us all either plan our own or maybe just dream a little. We will probably ease our way back into travelling/holidays again this year now that my surgery is over (worst 3 years of my/our life!) Just have to reorganise everything to do get back to it - i need to find work again after retrenchment + not sure what to do after my back op, finances took a hammering so must get on track again, kids educations with uni started and year 10 (maybe her last year??) and last year of primary school for son b4 high school next year, also legal stuff to sort out. At this stage I think we will look at doing a good trip to maybe Cairns, or Tassie - not sure yet. We wanted to do both b4 my back injury happened.

Would love to catch up and will let you know soon if its possible after checking the diary of all here. Hopefully will work out ok.

Keep living the dream - cheers Mick

We are trying to have a birthday in every state. We have had Christmas in S.A. and Tassie. The girls look forward to where they will be for their next birthday. Sounds like your kids didn't miss much while out of school. Ours are learning so much. My eldest (7yrs old) can identify Gummy/elephant sharks, salmon, bream, mullet, marlin, sail fish, barra, spanish mackerel, whiting, Jew fish, tommies, pink snapper and emperor. She is getting a good education. Problem is she usually catches more than me as well.

Josh

Money is over rated. lol

Hi Trace and Paul,
Glad to hear we could help inspire you. You will have a ball. Yes there are problems along the way and you have bad days but the rest make up for it ten fold. My wife often said she was not capable of home schooling and now she wants to be a teacher.The kids learn so much on the road. Because they are actually out there doing stuff they learnt it better. Our girls know different fish species, all the rules in caravan park play groundsetc. This is nature studies and English. Maths can be working out the change from getting an. English is also writing home to friends. Yes there is in what they do at times but alot of learning is done without the book. Because it is more one on one teaching it does not take as long as it does in a class room.
Renovation tip for you:
We installed the dishwasher the day before we handed over the keys. It sat in the kitchen for 2 yrs before that. I would not recommend doing that as I still have not heard the end of it.
Hope you enjoy your travels and don't rush, it is a big country.

Josh

Hi Mark,
It gives you a new outlook in life doesn't it. What used to be important is no longer. Time together on the road is great foe the family as well. We are now a very close family. Shortly after we started my daughter said to me "I'm glad we are doing this trip". I asked "why". She said that I now had time to play with them and wasn't tired all the time. Made me realise what I was doing to my family by working so hard trying to be a good father/provider. I don't think we will ever stop travelling properly. Like you we will always do trips.

Josh

House sold. Now it is time to plan!