A little news....

I hinted at a lot of change happening around these parts in my Here & Now post last week. And you also may have noticed I've been a little quiet on the comments and posts - so much going on. So I thought I'd share with you today a little news about things that are in the planning around these parts and the reason I've been stressed and distracted.

We've decided to pack up and travel around Australia in a caravan for a year (or so??).

But first a little back story.....


I've always loved travelling. I grew up with my mum telling me stories of overseas adventures for as long as I can remember. She did a big European trip in her early 20s and it always sounded so amazing. I loved going through her little collection of souvenirs and coins from her travels. I think it was here that I was first bitten by the travel bug.

So, I always had plans to travel in my 20s. When I finished uni I saved up for 16 months and then headed to Europe for 6 months and home via America for a couple of weeks. I had such a great time. I loved experiencing the sights and, most importantly, tastes from other places. I travelled Europe four times throughout my 20s and early 30s and had so many amazing experiences.

While travelling people would ask me about Australia or tell me their own stories of travelling here and I realised I'd not seen much of our amazing country. I realised I'd been having all these adventures across the other side of the world and probably missing some sights and experiences out my own back door. And so a seed was planted to travel Australia.

Mr GGE & I on one of our trips - unexpected snow in Munich.

Over the years I've done a few small trips around Australia but let's face it, we live in a pretty big country!

When we started our family Mr GGE and I put our travelling selves on the shelf for a little while. We did a few weekend adventures around South Australia and a trip to the Flinders ranges but that was about it. Most of our holidays involved travelling back to the Eastern states to visit family and attend important gatherings...so not much left for travel.

Just under a year ago we relocated back to Canberra and started enjoying spending time with family more frequently. We had space again to actually use holidays for travelling. In July we took two weeks to drive to Brisbane and back and do some exploring along the way. It was great.

With our move back to Canberra came another realisation. We really needed to change something about our way of living to get back in line with what we value. Namely Mr GGE spending too much time at work and away from our family. For us this was not sitting well. We thought the move might help make a shift but, as is often the case, it didn't. The shift needed to come from our lifestyle. We couldn't continue to do largely the same thing and expect things to be different.

It was actually Mr GGE's idea to take some time off to travel, but I jumped on it pretty quickly. Over a lunch out one day as a family he casually suggested we take 12 months off to travel Australia in a caravan. I thought for about 3 seconds and heartily replied 'let's do it'.

For about six month the idea just sat there with a vague leave date of autumn 2019. When we found out our rental was being sold things shifted. We realised we could use this as a kickstart to get things moving or we could take on a new six month lease somewhere else and push back our leave date. We went with option number one.

We've set a date to hit the road - Australia day long weekend 2019.

So, last month we were busy with open homes and keeping on top of having our house ready for sale. Although it's not actually our house I kind of felt obliged to make an effort for the owners. But it was a bit of a drain on our time. The house sold late last month and then for a couple of weeks we were busy with family events.

This month things have gotten real. We've been on  the hunt for a caravan (trailer or mobile home for overseas readers) and a vehicle to tow one. We've done a lot of research and lots of looking to make a decision based on what we think will work for us. But it's all a learning game really.

We are moving out of our rental in the middle of next month and so we wanted to get this out of the way before things got a little disjointed. Plus I wanted to be able to pack our trip stuff straight into the van if I could.

I'm happy to say we've found both a vehicle and caravan. Mr GGE will head off to pick up the van over the weekend and that part of the decision making process will be all sorted. As I mentioned in my last post it's been stressful. Such a big decision and big outlay of money. Plus as a recovering perfectionist who likes to be in control it wasn't an ideal situation...way too many variables for my poor lizard brain!!

This week, now that the decisions have been made and details sorted, I feel much more settled. Still a lot to do but having a van and car is a big weight off my mind.

Gratuitous overseas travel pic.

So at this stage our plan is to box up our stuff and store it with family. We'll also be getting rid of a lot of stuff too. I've already started de-cluttering, which I find such a cathartic activity.

Once we move out of our rental we'll stay between different family and also in our van. Mr GGE will continue to work through until mid Jan to build the travel funds and the girls and I will take time to stock up on family and friend time before we hit the road.

And so, you may see a few less posts from me as things continue to be hectic. Also, as our days and rhythms change I may find what I have to write about shifts.

I've started to think about this space and what it will look like as we move from our current style of living to a completely different one. My plan is to blog about living in a van and trying to live by my same food values. I've been doing a lot of searching but haven't found much info on people living simply in a caravan. I've also not found heaps on cooking from scratch.

So I figured I will keep up my blog and give a bit of an account of attempting to live simply, make conscious food choices and cook from scratch in a van while travelling. I don't know how do-able it will be. I'm sure there will be lots of compromise and making the best choice available. But I think there is value in writing about it - if only for my own record! I'll also post about different foodie adventures we have along the way.

The other idea I had was to perhaps do a series of interviews with people while on my travels. Specifically I'd love to meet some of you and learn a little about how you live and eat by your values. I'd also love to just meet up and have a cuppa :)

Ok, well  I think that's gotten you all up to date. Feel free to fire away at me with any questions you might have. And please forgive me if I miss a comment or am a little slack on the posts as we muddle through this time of change.

I hope all is going well in your part of the world. Any big changes in your space at the moment?
Oh, and if anyone has ever travelled Australia or travelled with small kids for an extended period of time please feel free to impart words of wisdom.