I posted My 12 month plan on the 14th December 2010 with nothing but a positive mindset and I put it out there for all to see and now the trip has been completed.
Thanks to the support I received from this forum at the beginning I was able to make it happen, since then have been chronicling my travels place by place and reporting on the different happenings enroute.
I will have a holiday from my extended holiday and expect to start another adventure early July so thanks again to Cindy and the forum for their continuing support.
Congratulations John! I've enjoyed every picture and post I've read of your journey along with a lot of your blog. I thank you for taking the time to share with others your journey.
Exactly Pauline. The flow seems to be getting a bit more fluid now so hopely I can start following some small dreams soon. I remember Johns first posts before he even bought the van, definitely worth a reread.
Congratulations John!!! I have followed your journey and blog with much interest, thank you for sharing your dream with us. Wish you every happiness as you go to your next adventure....
Its great to see someone out there doing the things we all want to, and I love your photos. What sort of camera do you use? I,m tied down by house and business, but am planning........ Hope to see you on the road, someday . Bill
Hi Bill,
Up to January I had one of those little video cameras with the fold out side but that is in the river at Denmark after a canoeing mishap. I bought it on Ebay when I had an address.
Now I have a Fujifilm XP water,shock,dust and freeze proof camera I bought it in Albany and it seems to work fine. I am a point and shoot guy with no real appreciation of what makes a good shot and often I can't see what is being taken seeing instead my face in the mirror screen.
I bought this one for those features mentioned so that when crossing the top in unfriendly camera locations it would serve me well and it has.
John
Edited to add that I would like to catch up with you on the road your fishing expertise would help me enormously.
-- Edited by yeoeleven on Wednesday 20th of June 2012 06:45:56 AM
Its great to see someone out there doing the things we all want to, and I love your photos. What sort of camera do you use? I,m tied down by house and business, but am planning........ Hope to see you on the road, someday . Bill
With photography all that matters is that you like it not what it looks like to others, it is your memories.
I take thousand of photos and take pride in what I do.
I have studied many books and methods and continued to achieve photos that I am happy with but I am the only one who has seen them so when you are happy with what you take and they bring back memories then that's all that is needed.
Regards Brian
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11 Mtr house Boat based at Mannum hoping to travel up the Murray as far as I can get then drift back again
Guess what- I have the same camera! But I sat on it in the car and broke the lcd, so haven,t used it for a while. I wonder if it can be fixed?I,ve been using the camera in the phone, but it doesn,t seem to have the quality pics like the Fugi, and its not waterproof.Am going to contact Fugi, and see if it can be fixed. I am coming south, later in the year , so see you then, Bill.
Well done John, an achievement to be very proud of. You are definitely an inspiration to others. I love your "can do" attitude and refusal to be beaten by anything. Met up with Billeee and Jules today at Toomulla and had a lovely afternoon with them. All the best for your next adventure John.
I have followed your journey, like so many others, with great interest, you have shown me places I didn't know existed and I have added them to my places to see. You have transported me from my computer to some fantastic locations around Australia.
I thank you John for all the time and effort you have put in to keeping up your blog, I don't know if I would be as diligent.
I hope you enjoy your 'holiday' and I look forward to your next instalment of your life on the road.
Sad in one way to see you have completed your journey, I will miss those daily up dates.
You have completed an enermous feat, by not only cirumnavigating this great land, but your posts were interesting, humouress, and inspired all no doubt.
But now you are about to adventure forth with new goals and travel plans.
I've met him our John, among many other nomads. He's an all round bonza bloke. I sometimes wonder who we take photos for. Me or everyone else? I'm a pointer and shooter and I'm often surprised at what I actually took the photo of. What my eyes saw, and what the camera actually took the photo of. The camera knows best. Jolly good show "old boy". It's a major achievement, and you've done it, and setting out to do it again.
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20ft Roma caravan - Mercedes Benz Sprinter - SA-based at the moment. Transport has no borders.
Management makes the decisions, but is not affected by the decisions it makes.
Thank you all for the encouraging posts, all in all I have had a ball meeting many of the GNs from the forum and travelling this great land.
My 12 month plan was accomplished and the trip that followed was successfull, the next trip will be different taking time to smell the roses with no particular objective to achieve other than to be warm in winter and cool in summer.
I will continue the posts here when I get moving again but for now am happy to be catching up with friends and getting the van checked over and serviced.
I didnt manage to catch up with John - seemed to be following him everywhere - but I too have stopped for a bit. Did 10,000 km over 64 days from Perth to MacKay to stay with family for a while. Enjoyed it so much that I am going to keep going late August. I agree about taking more time and staying a while. Will also be easier on the pocket not travelling so often. Will head south I think but need to check the weather over this side Am having to cope with cool damp weather for the first time! Then will head back across to Perth and do it all again next year. As a newbie solo it took me at least a month to slow down and relax. Amazingly I only met 4 other solos and they were all at the one camp and heading in the opposite direction to me! I loved the isolation of WA and NT - and the roads! Quite a shock to hit QLD and find flood damage, culverts that threw you up in the air if hit too fast, and all that TRAFFIC on narrower roads.
It has been such a pleasure being one of the 'annual contibutors to the rural economy' and an absolute breeze. I was so aprehensive about doing this and had so many people telling me all the things I needed to carry 'just in case'! The only things they didnt recommend was a set of springs - so when I broke one near Timber Creek.... thanks goodness for a helpful camp caretaker and fellow nomad whe fixed it so I could get to Katherine. Now have a full set of new heavier springs! (strongly recommend Neil Engineering there)
To all of you thinking about this - JUST GO DO IT A wonderful way of life as long as you can relax. Some days it is nice to do nothing, go sight-seeing, do a quick tour, or just chat to the neighbours. I didnt plan the trip as such although knew each day how far I thought I wanted to travel - it is great to just stop somewhere that looks nice. There are roadhouses every 2-300km out west and north, with caravan parks or free camps nearby. Mostly I have used caravan parks but intend doing much more free camping once I get solar installed. I may decide to get a TV but my computer keeps me entertained. Not able to get internet everywhere of course
What I do want is to be able to find other Grey Nomads. As a solo woman I find that there are many couples who are a little distant although I have met some wonderful couples as well. Is there a flag or something we can use to signal membership? Dont really want to go around peering at everyones bumpers for a sticker
Really looking forward to getting on the road again and hopefully meet a few more GNS
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'Once you are infected with the travel bug you have it for the rest of your life - there is NO cure'