Or used to if you no longer do, or hope to in the future if you are yet to begin.
Are you a weekender, annual tripper, one off big lapper, full time traveller/lifestyler or something else? What do (did) you love about it and/or look forward to?
Are you a planner or a 'follow your nose' freestyler?
What motivates you to travel, is it to see stuff, to experience the freedom of the road, to get away from housework or.......?
There are many of us 'out there' doing it, but we are all different, so what is the 'it' that you're doing, hope to do, or have done?
Most of us know that there are always new folk joining our ranks, excited & dreaming, but for many who are yet to begin, there are worries too. Will we get bored, how will we fill in our time, Will our relationship survive being together 24/7, will I feel lonely etc etc. No right or wrong answers, but maybe descriptions of what we do & how we do it might be useful to those yet to 'realise their dream'?
For my wife & I, when we first undertook our first 'Big Trip' (as we called it) it was about adventure & discovery, the chance to live the gypsy life for 18 months. My wife was less certain than me about going. She worried that I would become bored & difficult to live with 24/7. I was confident about going, I had spent several years talking to others online who were already out there doing it. They validated my dreams, & countered the misgivings that others expressed about us doing something so 'rash'. There was a day, 3 months in, when my wife used the term home & we both knew it meant our 'home on wheels'. We'd had a few ups & downs , around re-negotiating our respective roles in the relationship, but from that day on we were both certain that we were both doing what we wanted to do.
Much centred around seeing the country's natural gems. The 18 months seemed like forever, we had never been on holiday for more than a few weeks before that, but it came to an end far quicker than we expected & all we wanted to do was more of it. The constant change of scenery with the constancy & familiarity of our 'home on wheels' had become addictive, & today it still is, although now tempered with being both a slower pace & with a mix of moving on & staying for longer periods in interesting places.
What motivates our direction these days is the possibility of experiences rather than places, and to be honest we don't care too much where we are, just so long as we are out there, but we prefer to be away from towns & cities & out in the bush, in nature. We have come to love the warmth & predictability of northern weather.
It is over 5 years since we have been home, but we will be doing so later this year with very mixed feelings about it. Our planning is pretty loose these days - pick an area & maybe we'll stay there longer if we like it & can find an interesting way of doing so. If we don't the next section of the travel then needs to be formulated, usually after a period of 'floundering during which we come up with a reason/motivation. More 'me' than 'we'. My wife always seems to be happy to go wherever I go! (Although now with a lot more experience she does have far greater input than when we first started travelling).
We have no plan 'post home' other than we expect to be back on the road again by around the end of the year. We have hopes of being in a new (to us) vehicle, which if (a big if) it happens will give us a lot more flexibility of where & when we can spend time & the sort of opportunities open to us. If it doesn't happen there will be a period of disappointment & floundering, but a new 'goal' of some sort will emerge. Ideas of spending time in Arnhem Land, & house sitting for friends near Kununurra are possibilities, as is trying to photograph each of Australia's Grass Wrens, but as usual we have faith that something will turn up if we want it to. It has up to now
So enough about us, what about you, tell us about your travelling style, why you love it ( or wish it were different in some way) & what is in your travelling future.
-- Edited by Cuppa on Thursday 9th of February 2023 09:48:33 PM
Barb and I travelled o/s for years, but a series of seizures and a need to explore Oz put an end to that. I joined a 4x4 club, bought a Rodeo/Isuzu tray 4x4 and a Trayon Slide-on camper to explore the land. The 4x4 club was excellent and after lots of training, I got up to speed. Since then I have done many long and shorter trips - many on my own. I love the deserts and am falling more in love with SA every time I go. The true outback, I reckon. I recently bought my son's Cruiser and am set for another couple of months doing the Anne Beadell and Simpson on my way to Perth and back to Mornington Peninsula. Bucket list stuff. Barb is a 5 star girl, hence lots of trips alone, but I do enjoy the solitude. Mind you, I have formed a convoy for the big trip with others joining in at various points which will very enjoyable.
I've always loved the bush, natural history and lazing about, so I get out as often as cash will allow it.
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2008 Landcruiser single cab chassis, 2.7m tray. (Sad to part with the 2005 Isuzu, tho)
Hi Gary, I have often wondered what I would do if my wife decided she didn't want to travel as we do. She used to ride motorcycles & I once dreamt of us touring Australia on old British singles (Ariels), but the day came when she told me that she didn't really like riding bikes & had only ever done so because I had wanted to. That was a blow, but she had given it a pretty good go over a number of years. I'm confident that wont happen with our current travelling lifestyle though. I think sharing together gives meaning to our travel. At different times we each 'lean' on the other. I'd like to think that if I didn't have her I'd still travel, but I'd fear being lonely without her.
For folk like yourself who manage time away as you do I say "more power to your elbow". I reckon it takes a lot more courage to go it alone. And relationships which tolerate months at a time apart have to be just as strong as those that are together 24/7.
Luckily we travelled extensively right from the moment that we were married in 1972 Many places that we bush camped in during those early years have become extremely popular. Back in those days, they were fairly pristine but they've been spoilt by too many visitor numbers & too much harvesting of native bush for campfires. We took our children out of primary school when we did extended trips on half pay/ double time. It made no difference to their careers as they are both involved with higher education including university teaching. We retired 10 years before Covid-19 arrived, during that 10 years we travelled pretty much all over Australia except for SW WA. We spent a total of 6 months of every year away either in our caravan or on yearly flight/hire vehicle trips to more distant locations like Norfolk or Lord Howe Islands. The past 3 years have restricted us somewhat but we enjoy living in a lovely beachside location adjacent to Port Phillip Bay. We do lots of nature based bush walking activities in our part of the world. We have done some smaller, purely bush camping trips in recent times & we'll be continuing to do them for another 3-4 years.
Some folk on here might think that we spend most of our time photographing wildlife but we actually spend not too much more than an hour a day doing that activity. Looking through a camera viewfinder can be very boring.
I spend a fair time fishing or an hour or more playing the guitar absolutely every day. We both enjoy reading.
We bought our one & only caravan 12 years ago, it'll see us out because we're not really interested in caravans as such.
In a few more years we we plan to sell our rig, mainly because we feel that we've seen enough & are quite satisfied with our lives. The trick is to know when enough is enough & bow out gracefully. No way that we've seen all of it but we've seen a fair chunk of it over 50 years of travel. Leave it to the masses to enjoy.
-- Edited by 86GTS on Friday 10th of February 2023 07:18:46 PM
-- Edited by 86GTS on Saturday 11th of February 2023 03:21:38 PM
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There might be no Wi-Fi connection in the forest but I promise that you'll find a better connection.
Cuppa,
We've been together 50 years and after raising three kids, we travelled o/s for quite a few years. For a working class lad, it was exciting, but the loooong flights, crowded itineraries, constant packing/unpacking and homesickness for the bush eventually wore me down. Mind you, the sudden onset of epilepsy coupled with a realisation of my own mortality helped the decision. Joining the 4x4 club was a great move, as I am with like-minded people and they offer a deep well of experience and respect for the landscape ("we don't break cars or bugger the bush!!" is the mantra). We have great trips together.
Still, I do take every opportunity to seek out places of my own interest (hence the aforementioned trip) and I find SA offers so much with its rugged outback, deserts, beaches and that magnificent, wide horizon! Like most in my 4x4 club, I enjoy 4x4ing and some challenges, but it is much more a family social club who like to drive into the bush.
The window to explore more of Australia (at the leisurely pace I prefer) will eventually close as I enter mid 70's, so every trip is carefully selected and planned. Barb allows me the time to travel, while she still jaunts off on her overseas trips. Despite the Trayon camper being"glamping" style (toilet, hot water, shower, heating, kitchen, double bed, etc.), she can't be tempted to venture away from 5 Star accommodation or transport. A pity, but that's how it is.
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2008 Landcruiser single cab chassis, 2.7m tray. (Sad to part with the 2005 Isuzu, tho)
Some have done it all their lives, but I don't recall doing much of it as a child. Some day trips and a few times for a week in a holiday unit at either the Sunshine or Gold Coast. The first real trip was when I was 16 and had been working for 12 months and had annual leave. The family (parents, younger brother and myself) went on a driving holiday and we stayed in motels, to Dubbo (the zoo), Canberra, Blue Mountains and Sydney then home). Another year we did the Qld coast to Port Douglas and back. Both of these trips were for 2 weeks if I remember correctly. I liked the travel and then ventured out on my own, with a 100 others under 25, on a privately organized youth trip. We spent 2 weeks (August school holidays in Qld) and did a half lap. This was in the early 1970's. The same person organized trips to SW WA when we crossed the Nullarbor both ways, Tasmania and New Zealand. I could put up those safari tents with the best of them. Comfort stops back then - coach stopped - girls to the left, boys to the right. Us travelers made it back home, one of the coaches didn't. They were great trips.
Before we were married I was a Queenslander and hubby a South Australian. We lived in SA those early years and travelled to Qld to see family. The day after we were married we were in Toowoomba and hubby says "Where would you like to go for our honeymoon" Me "I don't know". Him "How about we drive to Darwin. Wouldn't mind going for another look". Me. "Okay". He had worked up there after Cyclone Tracy. That typified our travel plans for most trips up to recent years. We'd have a date to leave and a date to be home and a general direction and thus finished our trip planning. Why did we do it that way? We could go where we wanted, when we wanted.
We've driven in a car and stayed in motels, again in a car with a little 3 man tent or a bigger one once, when we had children, the Kombie camper, some years no holidays as we couldn't afford it, the motorhome in my avatar and last year a 3 week trip back in mostly motels. The longest we've been away from home is 3 1/2months when we did WA for the second time.
Last year we did a fair bit of day tripping. Hubby bought an older 4WD so we did trips over roads we couldn't do in the car and he found it easier on his back. We both have medical problems that won't be going away and I'm not yet in my 70's so do what you can now as you don't know what tomorrow brings.
One thing about tripping is we actually spend time together. At home we maybe in the same house, but not often together. We don't particularly like the same sort of TV programs and I need captions and am bluetoothed into my little TV in my office. Hubby watches the bigger TV in the lounge room and I cannot hear it properly. We have different interests and he does his thing and I mine. (We do do somethings together though).
Never get bored - at home or away. If we haven't been anywhere for a few weeks I get itchy feet and am looking for a day trip somewhere. When away in the motorhome we do a mixture of free/donation camping, stay at showgrounds and CPs. After a few days without electricity I need to recharge batteries (cochlear implant runs on rechargeable batteries and I travelled the last couple years with a heart monitor setup). These things can be managed and in those things I am organized.
The last couple trips I have written an itinerary that we loosely follow, but we still never book ahead, and I'm doing so for this year also. If we go in the motorhome or do the 4WD and motel it I don't know as yet. I'm getting itchy feet though. LOL.
I just like being in the countryside. Cheers to all.
About a 4 month holiday is our limit whether in Australia or overseas camping or hotels, otherwise it all becomes a blur & we don't remember anything.
On one holiday we stayed in a B&B in eastern France, absolutely loved the region, wineries were brilliant, food just as good, unlike the stainless steel winery iterations of Australia.
I was looking forward to a lot of exercise one (many as possible) night! But the B&B had exactly the same wallpaper as my parent's home I grew up in.
It just completely ruined the mood, at least from my perspective. Well, breakfast in bed was somewhat of a saviour... at least from my stomach's point of view!
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Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
Thank you Cuppa for starting this thread. I grew up in a family that loved to go away camping. So that has been my interest, but SWSBO and I have also done some overseas trips and plenty of short and long motel/hotel trips in Oz too. When our kids were young we enjoyed a trip in our refurbished VW pop-top campervan and later we regularly went Rogaining to enjoy the bushwalks and the bush venues for those events and we continued to do so even after the kids were adults. After our retirement from paid employment we bought our current caravan and tug and did a full lap. It was for 5 months and covered a lot of ground, but really only was a small sampling of what is out there. Another trip outback the next year was memorable, but we've only done a couple of shortish trips in the van since then.
So now that Covid is on the wane, we want to break out again and go to some of the places (plus new) that we would like to spend more time in - go a lot slower as there is no rush or deadlines this time. We always take lots of photos to enjoy after we are back home. Viewing them brings the wonderful memories flooding back in. As for 24/7 containment, we do share the workload and enjoy each other's company, but every so often there is a need to seek the company of others, which we generally achieve with the presence of other travellers or by visiting relatives/friends in distant locations from home. Life full of travel adventures is certainly very satisfying and a life worth living.
What a great array of adventures you guys do and have done. Various ways to travel with lots of different ideas and dreams.
We sold our motorhome late last year and are currently waiting for our Essential caravan to be built and delivered around June.( waiting for the excuses )
We have both traveled overseas and here in Oz, hotels, motels, bnb"s, camping , caravans and the Winnebago.
Getting very itchy feet waiting, spending money we don't have and a need to hit the road soon.
We are heading up to Rainbow Beach (house rental) for a week next Monday, that should help a little.
Caravaning and staying in cp's mostly is our best experience by far, a diverse range of people all sharing the need to spread their wings, meet new people, tell stories and share a drink wherever we go.
If we don't like our neighbors we know either them or us will be moving along soon enough. I am sure we annoy some as well, all part of life really.
Oh well, we wait and dream of adventures to come.
Glenn and Jenny
-- Edited by Farmhouse on Saturday 18th of February 2023 01:05:37 PM
-- Edited by Farmhouse on Saturday 18th of February 2023 01:07:06 PM
