TAWK Featured Family -
'Lost and Loving it'

1.  About you

We are travel enthusiasts!  The excitement of adventure and the thrill of the unknown is well and truly pumping through our veins.  We are now passing on this love of life, learning, family and adventure on to our two kids, Rob aged 8 and Abby, aged 5.  We are Joe and Noela and we run the blog "Lost and Loving It". 

We are travelling this amazing land with the most versatile set up we could afford.   An upgraded off road Goldstream pop top that's fully self-sufficient on solar so we rarely plug into power, a 200 series Landcruiser with an attached awning tent for our extreme tracks, and when the yearn for the path least travel arises, the humble backpacks for overseas!

2.   Why did you make your decision to TAWK?

Our kids are still young and they want to be around us now!  We didn't want to continue to lose the best years we could have with them on jobs, debts and mundane.  We want life changing adventures, experiences that mold their incredible personalities, the education of a lifetime and for us to live with no regrets.

3.   How did you get organised and how did you prepare?

For anyone who is reading this and considering travelling with kids, know this:  From the moment you decide, your life will change, your life will get extremely busy BUT it's tremendously exciting, entirely worthwhile and the absolutely best lifestyle in our eyes.

We decided on 1st January 2017 that we would indefinitely travel, by mid March we had tenants in our house and we were answerable to no one.  It's amazing what you can achieve with motivation!  We renovated, found a reliable property manager, minimised all our bills, donated and sold 95% percent of our possessions, renewed our passports, organised our entire home school journey and Joe to quit work.  We also carried out ourselves major upgrades to the Landcruiser and Goldstream – exhaust, Diesel remapping, axel upgrade and too many modifications for additional travelling comfort to list.  75 days is all it took us to be on the adventure of a lifetime!   Yahoo!  

4.  What has been your biggest joy?

We were already having the time of our lives, and then we decided to make it one step better by starting a travel blog!  "Lost and Loving It" gives us all so much joy.  We now get to inspire others to travel just by sharing our know how, the amazing journey and places we visit.  How incredible is that?!

5. What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?

Being able to commit to where we will be at a particular time for family to join in on our adventures!  We love flying by the seat of our pants, with no concrete plans but this makes it incredibly difficult for family on a time limit.  We haven't yet overcome this one – sorry family!

6.   Where have you enjoyed the most and Where disappointed you the most?

Where do we even start on the list of most enjoyable!  Just in our country we've loved the Kimberleys WA, Cape York Qld, Coral Bay WA, Cape LeGrande WA, Litchfield NT, Coles Bay, Tas and Fraser Island, Qld.  I assure you that we are missing a thousand more locations.  We try and find the beauty and uniqueness in every spot.  Attitude is everything and even gravel pits in the middle or nowhere can give you incredible memories.

If you are thinking of Travelling Australia With Kids, then the TAWK Guide would be a great place to start.

Available for immediate download as an eBook. Finally all the information you need in one place! Easy to read format with handy links to help you get started on your trip. Grab a copy right now and save yourself hours of sifting through the internet trying to find the information you need.  To help you get organised, and to turn your dream into a plan! Click here for more information... (We appreciate you supporting us supporting you)

7.   How did you get organised with schooling, what did/do you do and how did you come to that decision?

We are in the third year of home educating already!  We love the opportunities that travelling and home schooling has provided our kids.  They are independent, social, intelligent and thriving individuals and every day they surprise us with their innate ability to want to learn.  We call them our little learning legends.  Not only do we use all the same bookwork, books and educational programs before we left home, but now we get to bring the whole world to the kids.  Nothing is impossible.  Travel is the best education.

8.   What surprised you most about the trip?

We're quite well travelled but it's still so surprising to find hidden gems and amazing places we've never heard of!  We love exploring them all.

9.   What would be three pieces of advice to give to future TAWKers?

1. Don't think you need $1000 a week to make this happen.  We live very comfortably, happily and healthily on less than $500 per week.  It's cheaper for us to be here, living our dream than to be in a house!
2. You don't need the perfect everything.  Memories don't care if you have the latest gadget or the newest caravan.  You just need the people you love around you and amazing places help too!
3. Follow our blog.  If we haven't convinced you to travel more by reading this, than surely our "Lost and Loving It" blog will!  If not ours, anyone of these wonderful travelling families!  
   

10.   How do you think that this adventure has changed your family?

We finally learnt to truly listen to each other, the kids and forgive each other.  This lesson has been invaluable as the kids more often than not, treat each other with more respect and fight less.

Our family motto is "If it's important to one, it's important to all".  This means that quite often we all have to be selfless and follow someone else in the family's passions, yes even the kids!  This has taken us some incredible places already – tours inside dam walls that are usually closed to the public, hiking magnificent gorges, exploring deserted stunning beaches, hours of Lego play and swimming in the coldest waterfall ever.

Life should be an adventure, come out and join us.  We are "Lost and Loving It"

If you would like to become a TAWK Featured Family, please complete the little form below :)