TAWK Featured Family -
'Life Outside Work'

1.  About you

We are Justin, Selina, Caitlin (8) and Tyler (5).  We currently live near Newcastle in NSW and we are exploring this beautiful country one caravan trip and adventure at a time!

Our home away from home is a 19ft Bushtracker Family Van towed by a 200 Series Land Cruiser.  We have a big Aussie map on our wall at home and our goal is to colour over as many lines as we can!  (You can get a TAWK Trip Tracker map here - TAWK Admin)

2.   Why did you make your decision to TAWK?

A few reasons:  we love camping, we love exploring new places and we wanted to see all the amazing things Australia has to offer all while sharing the experiences with our kids.

Although we are not travelling full time, we make the most of school holidays and weekends to get away.  We don’t often go to the same place twice and more than happy to put in big kilometres to explore new areas.  We have travelled in NSW, VIC, SA and touched on QLD so far.  Tasmania will be ticked off shortly as we will be down that way for six weeks over Christmas!!

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

We get away for at least a 4-6 week trip each year and then anything from two weeks to weekend trips throughout the rest of the year.

We started out with Complete Campsite camper trailers which were both fabulous.  But we always had the idea that we would eventually buy a caravan and nearly two years ago we did just that!  For us it was the best decision we ever made!!  The van is so easy, especially on longer trips – we love it!

4.  What has been your biggest joy?

Spending time together as a family and the amazing things we have seen in our travels so far.  I love when the kids see a picture in a book or hear something on TV and it immediately transports them back to a travel memory – they remember so much!

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

Having to come back to work and school after one of our big trips!!! 

How do we overcome that?  Plan our next trip

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

We get asked this question often and it’s so hard to answer as each trip is so different.  Outback Australia is amazing but so is the Great Ocean Road, Fleurieu Peninsula and everywhere else we’ve been!  So, we honestly can’t tell you where we have enjoyed the most - each trip to us is just as good as the last...

I can’t say that we have been disappointed on any of our trips, maybe just disappointed that they ended!

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

We don’t take too much time off during school terms.  However, the kids learn so much while travelling – a lot of the time they are learning without even realising it!  The outdoors is a great classroom.  Learning about early Australian Explorers in the outback, visiting the Dig Tree, seeing where the mouth of the Murray River meets the sea – all these first-hand experiences are so fantastic for kids!

8.   What surprised you most about the trip?

How diverse our country really is!  There are so many amazing places to visit.  You can be in the outback sharing the road with emus on one trip and swimming at the beach on the next.

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

1. Just do it!  Get out there and see Australia.  You don’t have to go full time, you don’t have to go for a month, you don’t need a big flash set up – just travel and explore however you can!
2. Visit Information Centres in each town – they are a wealth of information and local knowledge!!  And the kids love getting their own maps and brochures!
3. Remember to have relaxing days around the campsite.  Don’t fill every day with activities and adventures.  Take time to do nothing occasionally!
   

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

Every adventure and trip we take makes us want to see and do more!  We love the camping lifestyle and best of all we get to spend quality time together and make some amazing memories!!  We constantly entertain the idea of taking 12 months + off and travelling around Australia but for now we will stick to planning some more amazing smaller trips and see where they take us!

We would love you to follow our adventures!  We are on Facebook and Instagram. Or if you would like to read more about our travels you can head over to our blog www.lifeoutsidework.com.au and have look around!

Thanks for reading and happy travels!

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