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The Austin
family's rig |
Austin family 'lapping
it up' on road trip
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TWO teachers from Newcastle in NSW and
their young family say they are "lapping it up" after setting off in their
caravan for a mammoth road trip round Australia. Trent and Jessica Austin
and their three children set off on their open-ended odssey shortly before
Christmas and are already around 7000 kilometres into the journey. And,
they admit, it's not without its challenges, the biggest being adjusting
from living in a four-bedroom house to a 22ft caravan. "Whilst it's
daunting, we have a real sense of optimism and excitement for what the
future holds," they told Caravanning News. "And we feel incredibly blessed
to be in a position to make this investment in our family. We may be away
for 12 months, 24 months or never return home." The couple said their
"insatiable appetite for a life of freedom" followed a five-week holiday.
Below is a personal account of their adventure.
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The Austin
family: new life on the road |
By
Trent Austin
"Let's make it a year or more!" were the words that passed my lips that
night
I returned home from my first day back at work after a five-week camping
expedition to North Queensland.
I'm Trent (39), assistant principal of a primary school in suburban
Newcastle. My wife Jessica (38) is also a primary school teacher.
Stella (9) is in Year 4, Tommy (8) in Year 3 and Sage (5)
at Kinder.
It was October 2017. Just five weeks on the road was enough to create an
insatiable appetite for a life of freedom exploring our beautiful, massive
continent ... 12-month ‘lap'.
But how would we afford it? What would we do with our house? Rent? Sell?
What about our careers? How would the children be affected being out of
school for a year? Could we survive life together 24/7?
All rational questions, but the yearning desire to make invaluable
memories with our children won out.
We've always heard people say 'Make the most of it. The children grow up
so fast and before you know it, they’re gone!'
I don't think until you're a parent and you experience this happening
right before your very eyes that it does ring true.
2018 would be the year of sacrifice ... planning, preparing and saving.
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Tommy and Stella with an
example of their 'homework' |
Being teachers, we live by the adage 'fail
to plan, plan to fail'.
So we back mapped a plan, dividing each month up with our names in the top
columns and jobs in the rows.
As we achieved the jobs, we'd tick them off, which added to the excitement
and sense of accomplishment.
We sold most of our furniture, built a wall
down the middle of the garage for storage ‒ quotes for storage were $5000
p/a ... a rip off ‒ and rented the house out late December 2018.
We saved around $55,000 and the rent from the house would be a handy
income stream to top up funds.
Being a stickler for spreadsheets, I created a budget sheet so we could
track daily spending on our iPhones.
We spent months trying to conjure up a blog name to record and share our
memories and tips to inspire others to join us and the other 100, 000
families travelling Australia.
We wanted something that encapsulated Australia in a single word or
phrase.
Then one day in October it came: the classic Australiana song from 80s
group Men at Work. Down Under adapted nicely into Livin' in a
Van Down Under.
We registered Facebook and Instagram
accounts, bought a drone, laptop and started upskilling on 'the technology
interweb thingy that all the young kids are on'.
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No getting away from
schoolwork
for these kids |
December 21 was here before we knew it.
We drove out of Newcastle bound for destination 1: Shoal Haven Heads
Holiday Park - South Coast, NSW.
Because of weather restrictions, we're heading south and then west.
Both being educators, our children's school has granted us a Travel
Exemption, meaning we are not bound by the guidelines Distance Education
and Home Schooling require.
We plan to use that freedom to its full advantage.
Our blog updates will focus on the ways we educate our three children
throughout the 'lap'.
We will also feature any interesting stories and characters we encounter
along the way.
The journey is not without its challenges.
The biggest adjusts are going from a four-bedroom house to a 22ft caravan
(we're constantly dancing around to avoid bumping into each other) and of
course, spending 24/7 together.
We can’t do much about the lack of space but to ensure we stay married,
we've had to put things in place so that we get personal time alone.
Mum goes for evening bike rides while dad puts the kids to bed, and dad
goes for an early morning run or swim while the kids are asleep.
We may be away for 12 months, 24 months or maybe never return home.
Whilst it’s daunting, we have a real sense of optimism and excitement for
what the future holds and feel incredibly blessed to be in a position to
make this investment in our family ... an investment that the caravanning
and camping lifestyle can make possible.