Travelling Australia is such a dream for everyone. Being out on the open road with no time limits, seeing amazing places and spending time together, who wouldn’t want to live that life. All the questions started flowing, how will we fund our travels, what will we travel in, what will we use to tow and how will we teach the kids (that’s a completely different topic). When we decided to start travelling, we had an extended plan on how long it would take and being us, we were too impatient and within 8 months we had left.
Read Next: 42 Things You Need To Know About Living In A Caravan Full Time During Your Big Lap
Setting Up Our Camper Trailer
We had always been avid campers generally camping in swags and tents and when we started planning our travels we were looking at what we were going to live in. Unfortunately, due to our budget, we didn’t at the time have the funds to purchase a caravan or the prior knowledge and experience with older caravans, so we went with a brand-new camp trailer. Pick-up day was so exciting we started actively planning how we would live in it, what modifications we would do, and where everything would go. We had tried different options
with storage containers to layouts of where everything would go.
As we started culling and packing things, we slowly realised we needed to think outside the box. We moved our battery to a rear section in the trailer opening more space in the camper; installed a clothesline for those washing days, and changed the set-up inside the trailer. We were ready to go!
Our First Trip In The Camper Trailer
We headed off to Outback Queensland in November 2019, planning to do an 8-week nursing contract. Anyone who has been in Outback Queensland knows it’s hot, dry, and at times, there’s no breeze whatsoever. We pulled up and started to set up, it was 40 degrees, we had all been up early and the tensions were rising. Setting up the camper trailer took us at least 2 hours to have everything set up. However, we got through it all and enjoyed sitting under the shade and watching the kids run around afterwards. We loved spending all that time together, exploring new places and experiencing new things.
Three days into our stay we were hit by a massive storm. It was blowing, hailing, and pouring with rain. Our annex walls were starting to rip off the Velcro’s, the kids were huddling inside the main tent and it was scary. Everything was wet. Again, we took it in our stride. We soon moved from the showgrounds and were fortunate to move to the nurse’s quarters at the hospital. We re-set up the camper, this time without the annex walls and continued living life.
We set up with a beautiful view with plenty of space for the kids to run around. Although we were in a great spot, it didn’t start cooling down until 8pm at night and was hot by 5am the next morning. Trying to sleep after night shifts was hard and we even bought a portable air conditioner that didn’t work.
Over time, we started realising that if this was how we were going to travel we definitely didn’t want to do it this way. We started dreaming about having a caravan that we could escape to in all weathers and be okay.
Related: 8 Incredible Outback Queensland Experiences To Have On Your Big Lap
Relief At Last
Three weeks into our 8-week stop, one of the locals was talking to us and asked us to house sit. We jumped at the chance to have air conditioning and be comfortable. I remember packing up the camper and saying to Tristan that I was done, we couldn’t do it anymore. Within 3 days of being at the house, we had unpacked the whole thing and placed it up for sale.
Now I’m not saying you can’t travel Australia in a camper trailer. There are so many families out there who are doing it and I take my hat off to them. But my advice would be that if you are thinking of travelling in a camper trailer, take some longer trips away in one prior to deciding so you don’t leave and realise it’s not a good option for you.
Read Next: Big Lap Essentials: 24 Things You Need To Crush Australian Van Life
