The call of the road is getting strong....<chop>

• My first (and biggest decision) is do I spend $10K upgrading my Falcon station wagon and buying a camper trailer?
  
  To answer this question appropriately, you really need to know what and where you wish to go.
  If you are staying on sealed roads then the Falcon will probably serve you well and save you the expense of a new vehicle (or second-hand one).
  
  If you are intending on going bush, which I suspect you might considering the photo angle, then you are looking towards a 4WD.
  Not sure if it will assist you - I started out with a Coaster motor-home. After about five years I worked out the bus wasn't going to get me where I wanted to go, and I needed a more suitable means of transport - a 4WD was really the only answer. I to do photo work, and getting the best photos, and hopefully something special no-one else has means getting off the main tracks = 4WD.
  
  
• Or do I buy an old van?
  
  This will limit where you can go. You have to also consider the availability of spare parts should the need arise.
  
  
• Do I keep my wagon for when I'm at home?
  
  You can, although you will be paying registration and insurance for two vehicles, could become costly.
  Also leaving a vehicle in the one spot not driven for months on end isn't real good for them.
  
  
• Or am I better to only have one vehicle?
  
  Read above.

• I have started following the adverts on Gumtree for both camper trailers and vans to try and get a feel for what is available in my price range. Is there another market place I should be monitoring?
  
  I recently brought my 4WD off eBay - had to fly to Sydney to pick it up and drive it back here.
  Vans Vs. 4WD+Camper - Both have good and bad points, some will say one is better then the other. In the end it comes down to what you feel suits you best.
  
  
• Are there any insurance problems or issues arising from spending so much more time in a vehicle?
  
  I believe the CMCA have really good insurance deals, and can do contents as well.
  
  
• I am a keen photographer and would like to travel with plenty of camera gear and computer gear including a table and desktop computer with big monitors for use when editing images - is that stupid?
  
  In a nutshell - yes and no. Keep in mind if your in the outback, especially top-end WA and NT there is going to be a lot of very fine dust around. Computers and moreso monitors due to their mass, don't take kindly to ingress of dust. I've done a few monitors in this way. Also after a days exploring taking photos, do you really want to be setting up tables, computers and monitors?
  
  I'm reading between the lines and guessing you have a permanent residence, so what might be best is to take a laptop with you, shoot in RAW mode and download the RAW images to the lappy and maybe a backup external drive as well, and then when you're home do your editing work then.
  
  I just have a laptop with an external monitor - seems to be the best solution and works well for me. I do editing on-road, usually at a camp when it's raining or the weather is to miserable to go out searching. Like you I was considering taking a desktop, but it's extra space you're taking up, which could be used for more important items. I was going to take a desktop as well, but then decided having a desktop computer bouncing around in the vehicle probably wasn't going to do it much good.

Colls wrote:

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Being broke is not a nice feeling after living the good life but in many ways much more rewarding.

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Yeah, I lived the good life before but I'm certainly happier now and probably healthier too. But certainly far more broke :(

I'd be interested to see your Starwagon sometime I'm down on the coastal plain.  Are newbie visitors welcome for a cuppa?

Colls wrote:

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I also bought a starwagon that had just been rebuilt. The camry died...the CV was not good for me and I discovered I didn't like towing which left me with the wagon. I have fitted it out very cheaply (about $200.) and I love it. Only problem is it doesn't have a/c.

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 My first RV was an older model Mitsubishi Starwagon with heaps of kms on the clock.   I removed all the passengers seats.  It was the type with the sliding hatch on the roof so you could open it for ventilation and also to see the stars at night.  All I had was a single mattress in the back towards the front with the space between the wheel arches used for clothes bags etc.  Across the back I had three milk crates, one filled with food, one with eating and cooking utensils, and the other had a small gas bottle with a gas cooker attached to the top, just cleared the top of the crate.

With the tail gate up, I could stand at the back and do my cooking and was out of the weather if it rained.   I took that van on my first trip around Oz which it did with ease, from the West to the East coast, north and south.  The only thing that went wrong was my fuel filter needed water drained from it after picking up some contaminated fuel at Airplane (spelling) on the Stuart Highway in SA.  No aircon, no fridge (everything in packets and cans) and I had a ball.......  So you can start off cheaply in the right circumstances.....

Colls wrote:

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Vic you starwagon sounds similar setup to mine although I don't have the luxury of the roof hatch I do have a bed...single with half of one leg chopped off to fit it over one of the wheelarches. I will be going to go to country WA very soon.

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 Sounds good Colls, I didn't have a single bed in mine, just the mattress on the floor, but saw another bloke with a Hi Ace delivery van which he had a single bed in (spanned the wheel arch) bolted to the floor, so used under the bed for storage.   He had replaced the wire on his with boards for better support.   Worked well for him.

Yes the older models had the sliding electric roof hatch over the passenger area, also had a smoked Perspex type roof hatch over the drivers cab but no inside cover to keep the sun out when you didn't want it, so I covered that with aluminium cooking sheets to keep the sun from boiling my brain while driving, LOL !

I was unemployed when I did the around Oz trip, but managed it ok but was a bit younger then.  Still an easy way to start off reasonably cheaply if you can find a good vehicle. 

GypsyBob wrote:

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Snip

I can see that if ever the Lotto goddesses smile upon me there will be no limit to the options available, however for me, I need to look within a different market. Gumtree seems to have an abundance of back packer type vans in the $3K to $7K range which it seems is where my horizons must be. These 'cheapie' vans seem to cost no more than what a half decent cheap trailer costs and I'm concerned about how easy it would be for one person to erect a trailer tent especially if tired or in the dark at the end of a long day.

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Welcome GypsyBob

Just thought I'd put in my bit (for what it's worth). Like you I had limited funds to buy a home away from home, and I opted for a 4WD HiAce, which had not been fitted out as a camper. I designed the fit to suit ME, and my son helped me make the fitout. I thoroughly enjoy my digital SLR, laptop, tablet etc while travelling, and as for dust, well, the road home is dirt so live with it . I can't afford to register, insure and maintain 2vehicles, so the 3L turbo diesel HiAce doubles as "normal" car when I'm home. Plus the added advantage that if I'm tired after a day of errands and shopping and I don't want to drive the 75km home, I don't have to It's not a serious "off-road" vehicle, but it takes me a fair bit further than a 2WD van, and to be honest, I did the "serious" off-roading when I was younger and am white happy to be a little less intrepid now. With the fiamma awning there's enough room in here for me and my dogs and all the stuff I want to take, just need to be organised .

Hope that a year from now you'll wonder why you ever stayed in those lonely hotels and let others dictate the speed of your road trips 

Dunmowin wrote:

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I will only answer this part of your long question.  With the right cables, you can use your television as a monitor, but I am no too sure of the requirements for this, but certainly something worth looking at.

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It would be well over 10 years since I owned a television, maybe 15 years. Have they started showing worthwhile stuff on it yet?

Having said that, I do watch some shows but very rarely, I like Luther and Breaking Bad and of course Dr Who but I watch all of those online either on ABC iView or BBC iPlayer.