What is your connection to Melton?
My connection to Melton is strong, with most of our family and friends living in Melton.
How long have you lived in the area?
I’ve lived in Melton all my life, so 28 years all up.
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about family and, most of all, our three children.
Tell me about why you decided to pack up your family and travel around the country in a caravan?
Life was so busy before we decided to sell up and pack the family into a caravan and travel.
The main reason was to get out of the daily nine-to-five grind and to be able to watch our children grow and give them amazing life experiences. Plus – you only live once.
How long have you been on the road?
This week, it will have been three months since hitting the road.
In the past three months we have travelled almost 10,000 kilometres. We have travelled along the coast, to some amazing places all through South Australia exploring the peninsula there. We have been through the Nullarbor, up to Kalgoorlie, then seen the amazing coastline in Western Australia.
Lucky Bay in Esperance has been the pick for us so far. Kangaroos on the beach with squeaky white sand!
We are currently in Margaret River for the next couple of weeks.
How is life different now that you are travelling?
Life has drastically changed. Being on the road has taught us all to be patient with each other. We are so relaxed and carefree. Absolutely loving life on the road with the kids.
What do you hope that your children will gain from the experience?
Whilst travelling we hope the three kids experience life-long memories with not only each other but people they meet while on the road – as well as the life experiences they are getting without even knowing it.
What costs are involved in travelling in this way?
The costs of travelling vary from week to week. We set out originally with a budget of $1000 a week. If we were under then, that is great. Most weeks we are.
We try to free-camp in the caravan where we can, keeping our accommodation costs down to a minimum and letting us have more money for more important things to enjoy. Life on the road is cheaper then our lives back at home. Having no every day bills helps.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
People would be surprised to know that we are just your normal family of five who took the plunge and sold everything to make the Aussie dream a reality.
What do you miss most about living in Melton?
Definitely all our family and friends – not having those friendly places to pop in for a cuppa whenever we want.
What’s the biggest challenge about travelling around the country in a caravan?
Not the fact we live under each others noses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, like most people may think, but would have to be, funnily enough, picking our next destination!
There are so many beautiful places in this amazing country and 12 months just isn’t enough time to get around to all of them. So we have had many late nights trying to work out our next stop!
Follow Kirsty and her family’s journey on Facebook and Instagram @tribeofive.
