A warm welcome to all our followers, “likers” and visitors to our website/blog. Over the past few months you may have seen our website grow into something that we hope will not only form a valuable online diary of our travels for our own personal reference, but may also become a useful resource and an insight into how our family (or any family) can enjoy the travelling lifestyle that is becoming very popular these days.

There are many parents who have already decided to pack up the house and kids and ventured into the unknown to experience what our great country has to offer- they are out there right now experiencing the “good life” with their kids (in the ultimate classroom). There are so many families that WANT to join us but just don’t know where to start- something we hear often is “im so jealous of you guys”, I often wonder what holds these people back from doing it themselves. Many are unsure about what they need to do, whats involved, scared of taking the first step or maybe they are worried about what their friends and family will think of such a radical change away from a cemented and repetitive lifestyle. And what about money, schooling, safety, living in a “box”, away from the security’s of home?????? I guess these are all personal issues each budding traveller needs to overcome on their own. Hopefully over the following months our website may inspire and encourage a few people to “bite the bullet” and hit the road….show them that it CAN be done and that its great fun……..and thats it’s a rich and valuable experience for their kids.

Dont be scared to step outside the “social norm“- we did and have never regretted it!

You may be thinking- “what makes these people such an interesting entity that warrants their own website“, well we spent most of 2010 and 2011 travelling Australia in an off-road camper trailer and we have 1000′s of photos of our travels. What we really lacked was a structured diary of our travels which we thought would be a valuable reminder for not only us, but our family and our kids. This website/blog is a forum for us to write about our journey, places we have visited, make general comments, share ideas and blog about our adventure. We also enjoy sharing our experiences with places/towns, products, recipes and just general “life on the road” type topics. So, like I mentioned earlier- this website/blog has taken shape in such a way that will allow us to share our journey on the road with people who are interested in what we are doing. And again- hopefully inspire budding travellers to “bite the bullet”.

Our Travels so far

So who are we?

We are- Myself (Anthony), my partner Jane and two sons Cooper (5) and Leo (5 months) and we hail from northern NSW and we love to travel. Before leo was born we had spent time on the road in a soft floor camper trailer and have visited some wonderful places around Oz. Now leo has arrived we made the decision to keep travelling but decided we would upgrade our camper trailer to a brand new Jayco Eagle Outback. Mainly for more comfort, security and the fact we love the design of the Jayco Eagles for their roomy and practical space. (we will be giving a run down on our Jayco Eagle Outback in a future post and we will detail why we chose it for our travels over other options that were available).

A redundancy in my job in 2009 along with a mutual desire to travel triggered the decision for us to start this adventure and it set the wheels in motion- the planning started!!

What was initially going to be only a 9-12 month ”trip” turned into 20 odd continuous months of “living” on the road. A short hiatus for leo’s birth early this year has now ended and we are continuing our travels as a family of 4. There is still so much to see!

How do we afford it?

Without going into specifics about income, I will say that we do travel to quite a modest budget (another aspect of our website that we wish to eventually share with others about being frugal and the benefits of “budget” camping). We do find the odd job on the road and I am also fortunate enough to have a job where I can work from my computer whilst we travel. We are in no way getting a “free ride” nor are we “sponsored” or get paid by anyone to travel. We are funding our travels 100%. I feel the need to clarify this as in the past we have come across this question many times and there seems to be a belief that doing what we are doing can NOT be achieved without financial support (or a huge bank account) etc. Well it CAN!

So whats with the product reviews and brand logos on the site?

I am quite hesitant to spend my money on JUNK. ive wasted lots of money in the past on some real crappy and dodgy products- I have learnt to research before i buy. If I come across a product I truly believe is worthy of a review (either good or bad) then I like to share my thoughts with others. Before I make any significant purchase, I like to research and get opinions from those who have actually used the product and see what they have to say about it- what are the pro’s & con’s. Well, I am simply writing my opinions on the things we use during our travels!

They are no way endorsing products or “pushing” readers to make a purchase. We are simply just sharing the products we chose to bring with us and why we reckon they are worthy of taking up the little space we have!!!!! After all, space is a premium when travelling and every product we bring along needs to be justified and have real value and benefits. An insight into what WE use on the road may also help other people in their planning stages to consider other options.

The brand logos and links simply feature on our website because those companies have either offered us some really great customer service, product support or they have our earnt our respect as an innovative Aussie company that fully understands the needs of campers, 4x4er’s and travellers. I believe in “supporting those who support you”.

Now what?

Well, over the coming months, apart from sharing our travels, places we visit and attractions along with our experiences of travelling we also have plans to periodically write about genuine aspects and issues that a travelling family encounters and how WE deal with such things. Topics such as meal planning, food storage, cooking, kitchen essentials, car maintenance, budgeting, choosing campsites, safety, kids entertainment, communications, portable power options, washing clothes, budget camping, finding work etc etc and anything else we reckon people might be interested in or feel like talking about.

Anyhow, we are thrilled that you have stopped by to read this and hopefully you will stick around and follow our adventures. Even if you don’t like lots of reading- perhaps you might enjoy looking at the photos we take along the way……………………………….

We have now been back on the road for nearly 2 weeks but havent ventured too far. we are still getting a feel for our new camper, trying to establish some routines with Leo and giving our new camping gear a good “shake down” before we get too far away from home!

Cooper celebrated his 5th birthday the other day- another birthday “on the road” for him.

 We look forward to writing about our travels and sharing our journey. We look forward to having you along for the ride aswell. until the next post, take care!

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