Travelling Australia with kids – What do you need?
What do you need to travel Australia with kids?
Do you need an off-road caravan? Do you need an ensuite? Do you need an oven? Do you need a generator? Do you need a Land Cruiser? Do you need Solar power? Do you need Air conditioning? Do you need a washing machine? Do you need to take bikes? What about a truck, spare car, boat, a quad bike and a crane to load it and unload it?! No, you don’t need any of those things. In fact, you can do it in a Hyundai Excel and a $15 tent, if you really want.
Travel groups are always full of questions about what people need to have in order to travel, the problem with these questions is that each family is different. Whilst I understand people want to hear from those who are travelling, it often results in conflicting information because no matter what setup you have, you make it work!
If you want to head well off the beaten track, you’ll need an off road caravan (or camper). If you want to sit in air con and annoy your neighbors at free camps, then yes you will need a generator and air con! If you want to live off grid for extended periods, yes you’ll need solar. If you want to save $4 by doing your own washing, then yes a washing machine helps! If you like to explore, and your kids ride bikes, yes you’ll need those too! If you want a Land Cruiser, buy one!
There really is no perfect setup, rather it’s more about buying what you can afford that suits your lifestyle and plans when on the road. We’ve been travelling for 2 years in a setup that cost us less than $20 000, car, caravan, solar, car upgrades, the lot. Can it go everywhere? Nope. But we’ve got a setup that suits us and more importantly, suited our budget. If I took advice from 90% of people on travel groups we’d never have left to travel, because the consensus is you need a diesel 4WD and a $40 000 – $80 000 off road caravan. Yet, here we are, parked alongside a setup worth 5 times as much as ours and we’re looking at the same view and visiting many of the same places. Sure mine is a crusty looking old V8 Falcon Wagon and a 29 year old caravan, but we’re out here doing it.
Travelling requires sacrifice regardless of what setup you have, despite the picture perfect sunset selfies suggesting it’s some kind of eternal bliss. To get out there and travel you only need one thing, and that is you need to want to travel, and find a way to make it work! Whether you’re doing it in an Excel with a $15 tent, a Land Cruiser and an off road van, or a truck and every conceivable toy imaginable, you’ll still be out there making memories. That’s all that matters!
