Hi from a Newbie

Sundance · Veteran Member

Hi from a Newbie

Keith19837 · Senior Member

G'day Sundance. Welcome aboard. I've just returned after a long absence due to moving house etc etc.

jbell6660 · Veteran Member

Hi Di & welcome. We are in a similar frame of mind. Have sold our Jayco Expanda and now looking at a full van. Still researching but looking at a Nova Terra Sportz???? Would love to be organised by next year and hopefully work our way around. Picking fruit, cleaning, driving forklift whatever. Will need to seriously declutter the house put what we are keeping into storage and rent the house out. Would love to travel for a couple of years at least!! Took 6 months long service leave last year and did the lap and loved it. coped with the hard decisions - what are we having for dinner tonight or where will we head to tomorrow. Great fun reading this forum and taking in ideas etc. Just do it!!!! Good Luck.

Dunmowin · Guru

Sundance wrote:
Hi all,
As long time Wannabe Grey Nomads I've been lurking on the forum for a while and have finally gotten around to joining. Although hubby and I have been dreaming and talking about one day becoming travellers we didn't really have a plan in place until we went to the recent Caravan & Camping Show in Brisbane "just to look". Famous last words! We ended up putting a deposit down on a 20ft Options RV Tornado. The big drawcard was that we could hold off picking it up until September 2014. So now we're seriously trying to get a plan in place to be able to take off at the end of next year.
We're 54 and 59 and will be resigning from our jobs permanently. The first 6 months or so will be funded by our long service leave but we'll be hoping to pick up work after that. Although a technician by trade hubby is pretty handy with most aspects of building so is thinking of taking his basic tools and getting a Handyman sign put on our vehicle. Even though we're still about 15 months away from finally taking off there is a lot to organise during that time. A tow vehicle will have to be purchased, our house sold, garage sale, belongings put into storage etc.
Would love to hear from others who are also in the planning stages or from anyone who's already done it who can offer any general advice.
Cheers,
Di

Welcome to both Sundance and jbell6660.

We did exactly what you are planning, it is not that hard, once you have made your mind up. In our case (and roughly in this order) we stepped through the following:

We put a picture on the fridge of our choice of van/home, with a leave home date written across it (in our case it was 10/7/2016) Be prepared to change date, and picture
Talk to a financial advisor - very important, if you have superannuation and have turned 60, you can draw an allocated pension.
We were able to change the date on our picture from 10/7/2016 to 10/7/2011 on this advice.
Go to Brisbane Caravan and Camping Show (or similar)and order your choice of van/home - then change the photo on the fridge with the new date.
Purchase suitable tow vehicle
Put house on market, have first garage sale
Pick up new caravan, and have several shakedowns before your planned retirement date.
Get unconditional contract on house (this is sort of out of your control)
Hand in your notice at work (we chose 8/7/2011)
Moved into caravan on property, while you clean out the house
Had an estate auction (not a garage sale) In our case, well worth the $500 paid to the auctioneer. Everything sold, we were left with nothing to store (apart from what we wanted to store
Move off property before settlement date (very accommodating neighbour)
have final day at work (8/7/11)
Set off following day for an extended holiday (in our case, two years so far and still going strong)

This was our plan, we strived to tick the boxes in order, so that we could stick to the plan. We were very lucky - we had no hiccups, despite selling in early 2011, during floods in Brisbane.

As for work, yes there is work available for "tradies" however, bear in mind the weight issue in carrying the tradie tools. Most caravans payload is only 400kg, you will need this for food and clothes, upmarket caravans give 600 kg. In our opinion, 600 is still a basic minimum required for someone living permanently on the road.

Tow Vehicle - watch the equipment fitted on the vehicle, as it is easy to become overloaded. Keep in mind that the down force of the caravan on your towball is part of the payload of the car. So if you purchase a vehicle with extras like slide-outs & bulbar, the vehicle is already heavy. For comfort, it is a good idea to upgrade the suspension on the car before you start the trip - if you don't you will be guaranteed you will need it later, when it is no longer in your budget.

I hope this helps you both with your decision to get on the road.

herbie · Guru

We did what your thinking about doing 13 years ago it cannot happen over night when you make the decision to go on the road full time.

It took us around 12 months to organise every thing and then when we got to do it we still asked each other...have we done the right thing.

But yes at the time it was the right move for us,but I know other people who have done it and found living in a confined space full time was not for them.

So what I am saying it is horses for courses kind of thing.

We have some land with a shed/ kind of like a Claytons.Just a safety net in case our circumstances changed.

Being a little away from being a true grey nomad (as we both still work ) I do not think I really would enjoy living full time in the van

but working gives us both an escape from the confide area for at least a few hrs per day.

The other down side to still working is that for the time you are working you have no choice other than to live in van parks.

But the up side to that is if you do not like your job or the park you are in you just hitch up and move on to a new adventure.

But would we change our decision we made way back to do this ..not for one second.

And yes you can live with out most of the gear we all accumulate over the years.

The only thing I really miss is my motor bikes (with my daughter in Perth )and my wife misses her walk in wardrobe. now she has two plastic tubs instead.

Regards Herbie.

Mark · Senior Member

herbie wrote:
We did what your thinking about doing 13 (for us two years ago) years ago it cannot happen over night when you make the decision to go on the road full time.
It took us around 12 months to organise every thing and then when we got to do it we still asked each other...have we done the right thing.
But yes at the time it was the right move for us,but I know other people who have done it and found living in a confined space full time was not for them.
So what I am saying it is horses for courses kind of thing.
We have some land with a shed/ kind of like a Claytons.Just a safety net in case our circumstances changed.
Being a little away from being a true grey nomad (as we both still work ) I do not think I really would enjoy living full time in the van
but working gives us both an escape from the confide area for at least a few hrs per day.
The other down side to still working is that for the time you are working you have no choice other than to live in van parks.
But the up side to that is if you do not like your job or the park you are in you just hitch up and move on to a new adventure.
But would we change our decision we made way back to do this ..not for one second.
And yes you can live with out most of the gear we all accumulate over the years.
Regards Herbie.

Aside from the time frame, we have only been on the road two years, "pup's" compared to Herbie.................... Absoloutely DITTO to Herbies responce.

Dougwe · Chief one feather

Welcome from me too Sundance, enjoy here and out in the playground.

mongrel · Guru

Welcome from us as well Sundance.You will get many a question answered from the good folk on this forum..

Radar · Guru

Sundance hi.

Great question, Like you I been wondering if I could do it and the reply's were excellent with good ideas.

Thanks Sundance for asking this question and thank you people for your great responses.

Now the first thing for me to do is bait the line with a plan.

Good luck.

STEVO · Veteran Member

hi Di, Believe me you are doing the right thing,Best decesion karen and i ever made. Lucky to retire at 50 we thought maybe 2-3 years on road and back to work,but now starting 5th year travelling and absolutly no intention of giving up this life.So to continue this dream we too are putting the house on market and working on a plan to make sure it doesnt stop. You will be suprised how little you need, In fact we come home and ask ourselves why we need the big house full of furniture and all the trappings. We like a lot of grey nomads worked all our lives long hours putting up with crap of parts of the public, goverment red tape and the worry of the risks we had taken to try and make things work, to find we are happier than weve ever been in our caravan on some creek bank in the bush.Move if we want,stay if we want, go where ever we want whenever we want. So all I can say is just do it just do it you will have no regrets.STevo

Ontos45 · Guru

Welcome Sundance from Peter and Sue.

Duh · Guru

And me too ! smile

Sundance · Veteran Member

What a great welcome, thank you Keith19837, jbell6660, Dunmowin, herbie, Mark, Doug, Alan & Adele, Radar, Stevo, Peter & Sue, mongrel and Duh! Hope I didn't forget anybody.

We are taking on board all the advice given which was excellent.

I guess the hardest part of the planning stage is working out the financial side and how to afford it.

We've recently bought our dream acre block which we are intending to build on once we get back from tripping around in the caravan, although judging from what a lot of you have said it could become highly addictive! At this stage we aren't holding ourselves to any timeframe once on the road. Will play it by ear and travel for as long as we both want to do it. With the money we get from the sale of our house we'll hold onto so we'll have money to build our home when we get back. We'll have a bit of income coming in from investment properties but we don't want to access our super until we finish travelling either hence the need for us to find work.

Thanks Dunmowin for pointing out the weight of tradie's tools as we hadn't taken this into consideration. Will have to whittle it down to just the basics and/or essentials. I guess like most people we will do whatever work we can find along the way.

Di

herbie · Guru

What we do with our extra gear when moving onto another job is to send it via Toll/ one of the over night truck companies (although it can take up to two weeks to turn up depending where we end up ) It save the hassle of being over weight. ..We have a two door fridge/ freezer that is set up in the annex and then there is dive gear, and a lot of fishing gear, plus the extra stuff like work gear/tools/ ....outside 4 seater table and chairs set.

D and D · Guru

Hi there, Sundance. Welcome to the forum - you're sure to get heaps of useful advice and comments here.

I turned 60 this year, I've had 2 heart attacks and realised that what seemed like only yesterday when the little bundle they gave me at the hospital to bring home was turning 38 and I was wondering where all the time had gone that I and my partner decided there was too much to see and do to waste any more time getting stressed out on the work running wheel.

We spent 3 months traipsing around caravan displays, reading magazines, scouring manufacturers web sites and so forth before we decided on a suitable van and tug - custom made van has been ordered and construction will start in late November with delivery scheduled for mid December. A Mazda BT 50 ute has been ordered to pull the van - delivery expected in September then we have to get the add on's put on (Mazda add on's don't get too good a rap on the forums so we're going for 3rd party stuff), shake down cruises, towing courses and the like and we hope to be on the road by late January. House is being sold - first garage sale didn't get rid of much, eBay was a waste of time and effort and Gumtree was only marginally better. Word of mouth got rid of more but we may end up having an estate auction like Dunmowin.

Can't give you any advice about life on the road because we ain't been there yet but I'm looking forward to getting away from it all. I'm so over the painting and renovating but the real estate people all tell me it will increase the sale price of the house so I hope they're right :)

Hoping it all works out for you.

Regards

Dave

neilnruth · Guru

Welcome to Sundance and jbell6660 from us. Two new members we haven't caught up with. Glad you are planning to enjoy this great country of ours.

Sundance · Veteran Member

Hi Dave,

Yes I would imagine that having a few heart attacks under your belt would certainly put things in perspective!

Although we're both in good health we've just reached the point where most days we come home from work and say we just don't want to do this any more. I think it's life's way of giving us a nudge and telling us it's time to do something about it. And to be perfectly honest we're just plain old tired! Just the thought now that we're probably only 15 months away from actually being able to take off has really sparked us up. We're in the process of de-cluttering the house and getting all those little jobs done on the house that need doing before it goes on the market.

Hope all goes well for you.

Di

Sundance · Veteran Member

neilnruth wrote:
Welcome to Sundance and jbell6660 from us. Two new members we haven't caught up with. Glad you are planning to enjoy this great country of ours.

Thank Neil and Ruth. Am quite overwhelmed at the great response we've had on this forum. biggrin