Life on the Road - Without Kids?

[Benny78]

Hi There,
We are another couple of DINKS about to head off for 7 months around OZ as well.

I am leaving my job as i have been in Project Management for 10 years now and i figure that i can get another job pretty easy when i return. The missus works in a great company that allowed her to have 7 months off LWOP.
We have no kids yet and have bought a hardfloor camper and 4x4 and plan to do 50/50 free camp and campground camping.
Budget for the trip is basically the rent from out house will cover the fuel and on top of that we should have around $500 week to spend on bits and pieces.

We figure this is the time to do a trip like this before any Kids and while we are young and fit so i enjoy all the sights and walks etc. Also want to surf all those breaks over West that look so good!

Other trips that we have done we never really had any issues meeting other couples -even if they have kids they still were more than happy to hang out with us. The grey nomads doing the touring thing seem to not be interested but we have never had an issue meeting other on the road- i love meeting backpackers as they usually have some interesting stories or scams that they have going on!

We leave in July this year.....i suppose i should advise my employer soon

So get out there and do it Amanda- we will see you in the outback somewhere

[lilstookie]

That s great the best week so far for me was is $600 but man we did nothing 1 tank of fuel free camped 4 nights and 3 in caravan parks.

The worst I spent $1360 and the worst so far for fuel in a week is $560. That was crossing the nullabor. I have 2kids also and we are waiting in perth until our 3 child pops out in the next week or 2. On average it still ended up at a $1000 thats included 2 services that I performed myself and a total of 10000km traveled in 3 months.

We won't be doing those kinda km's for a start. We don't drink or smoke.
So no need for beer money. We have never stayed in a caravan park yet.
We will be staying in some on our trip but that will be factored in when it happens.
We don't spend a lot on food. The wife buys stuff really well and cooks everything from scratch.
We will be doing a bit of work on the road too as its not a vacation for us.
We are giving up living in a house and a "normal" living.
We don't earn $1000 a week so can't spend it.
We have emergency money if needed.

Time will tell how it goes but with no rent, electric bills and stuff I don't know how it could get so expensive.

Like I said we are living on the road it's not a holiday.
There will be more downtime than a normal job where the money we make will find the next adventure and stage of the trip.

[workhorsewa]

Hi Amanda,

We're another couple of DINKS and while we haven't yet taken the plunge and headed off travelling indefinitely, we try and get away to as many places as we can, as often as possible.  Both still pretty committed with work and some debt, so maybe another few years.

If you're interested in meeting some like-minded West Aussies, we're having a very casual My Swag camp trip to Dwellingup in May. Might see you there.

http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=20068.0

Cheers

Hey Stozz,

Thanks for the invite, will ask the other half.....unfortunately he's doin 60+ hrs a week at the moment up until we go away in June, but we may just sneak down overnight, will keep you informed if we can make it.  Would be great to meet some like minded people, as most of our friends don't share the same passion for travelling in Oz, can't understand why they don't.....maybe cos they've never really experienced it 

[bussoboy]

we are "DINK" campers and we mainly weekend camp with 2 other "DINK" couples - we'll be doing a 4 week trip next year just the 2 of us. but its always nice to catch up with fellow kid free couples not that I have anything against kids, just the noise that they create

[Kit_e_kat9]

we are "DINK" campers and we mainly weekend camp with 2 other "DINK" couples - we'll be doing a 4 week trip next year just the 2 of us. but its always nice to catch up with fellow kid free couples not that I have anything against kids, just the noise that they create

I'm a SINK (single income no kids) ... and I've never ever considered spending $1000 a week to holiday on the road.  I've no idea what people could possibly spend that much $ on?  Where the hell are they going?  Is it caravan parks the whole way, eating meals on the run (not cooked at home so to speak), doing every touristy thing they possibly can and taking a zillion photos with a film camera, and trying to drive each day till they've spent that $1000 by the end of the week?  I just can't fathom where that much $ would go.  I know not every family in Australia is feeding 8 kids and 2 adults anymore, but $1000??

I also enjoy camping in places that aren't overly children oriented ... don't dislike kids either ... just don't enjoy the screaching noise of them at 0600 whilst I'm trying to enjoy The Serenity of the Back of My Eyelids.  I just expect the same respect (read: peace and quiet) from other campers that we give them.  Some camping area's cram you in so closely these days, that it's almost impossible not to impose on your neighbours if you aren't consciously aware of them.  I guess that's why we like bush camping so much.  You have the opportunity to relax because you aren't 2 foot from the campers next door.

As for life on the road without kids ... couldn't think of a more wonderful thing.  There is nothing that you will miss out on ... in fact quite the opposite.  The only thing I've found on various trips throughout my travelling lifetime, is that caravan parks can be kid oriented ... simply to save the parents sanity I believe.  Everything else ... not so much.  Go forth and enjoy.  Don't worry so much about what shouldn't be worried over.

Now that I have someone to come camping with me, we love getting away as much as possible.  I think I've infected him with the camping bug.     We take a fortnightly trip and are thinking about but not yet planning our big getaway.  Knowing his love of all things work, I doubt that we will get to do it until his (now) adult child has been effectively pushed from the nest sometime in his 40's.  One bonus there is ... at least we can leave him behind to feed my cats!

Kit_e

[lilstookie]

I'm pleased somebody else thinks $1000 a week is a lot , I was beginning to wonder if I'd forgotten something like food petrol and food  !!!!

Life on the road and 12 month holiday. 2 very different things.
Life on the road for us means holiday when we like and take the house.

[NatGav]

Just about to hit the road for 12 month, no kids but 2 fur kids....its an interesting concept, leaving everything you know, everything you've worked on and built...once we decided to do it, stuff just started to happen. Let go, be free and breathe. Be in the moment and everything will work out. I think$1000 a week is so much, our budget is $600 but we have a fast car...so petrol is our biggest expense. Do it, there should be more people doing it. We are sure to meet all sorts of people, young old tourists and some crazies along the way.
I have a blog going so please jump on and have read.
Www.wherethebloodyhellarewe.com
Good luck and be in the moment....laugh loud...love deeply...
Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

[workhorsewa]

Just about to hit the road for 12 month, no kids but 2 fur kids....its an interesting concept, leaving everything you know, everything you've worked on and built...once we decided to do it, stuff just started to happen. Let go, be free and breathe. Be in the moment and everything will work out. I think$1000 a week is so much, our budget is $600 but we have a fast car...so petrol is our biggest expense. Do it, there should be more people doing it. We are sure to meet all sorts of people, young old tourists and some crazies along the way.
I have a blog going so please jump on and have read.
Www.wherethebloodyhellarewe.com
Good luck and be in the moment....laugh loud...love deeply...
Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using Tapatalk

Hi NatGav....thanks for that, that's exactly how we are feeling...."leaving everything we know and built up".  I will check out your blog for sure.  We are at the stage where we have tentatively agreed a time to "leave" and have a brief plan outlined of where we'll start and what we want to check out.  I suppose as our the door closes on our old life more doors will open.....I have to stop being such a sook about it, be brave and suck it up and we'll just have to live in the moment, all our comforts will be far behind.  Thanks again for your reply mate, appreciated 

[workhorsewa]

Hi NatGav....thanks for that, that's exactly how we are feeling...."leaving everything we know and built up".  I will check out your blog for sure.  We are at the stage where we have tentatively agreed a time to "leave" and have a brief plan outlined of where we'll start and what we want to check out.  I suppose as our the door closes on our old life more doors will open.....I have to stop being such a sook about it, be brave and suck it up and we'll just have to live in the moment, all our comforts will be far behind.  Thanks again for your reply mate, appreciated 

Oh and forgot to add......safe n happy travels 

[workhorsewa]

Hi There,
We are another couple of DINKS about to head off for 7 months around OZ as well.

I am leaving my job as i have been in Project Management for 10 years now and i figure that i can get another job pretty easy when i return. The missus works in a great company that allowed her to have 7 months off LWOP.
We have no kids yet and have bought a hardfloor camper and 4x4 and plan to do 50/50 free camp and campground camping.
Budget for the trip is basically the rent from out house will cover the fuel and on top of that we should have around $500 week to spend on bits and pieces.

We figure this is the time to do a trip like this before any Kids and while we are young and fit so i enjoy all the sights and walks etc. Also want to surf all those breaks over West that look so good!

Other trips that we have done we never really had any issues meeting other couples -even if they have kids they still were more than happy to hang out with us. The grey nomads doing the touring thing seem to not be interested but we have never had an issue meeting other on the road- i love meeting backpackers as they usually have some interesting stories or scams that they have going on!

We leave in July this year.....i suppose i should advise my employer soon

So get out there and do it Amanda- we will see you in the outback somewhere

Hi Benny78,

Make sure you do get over to surf some of the breaks in WA, some absolutely magic places where you can chill out for sure!!   And um....ye, maybe you should tell your employer soon....4 months til July !!!!

Ye, the biggest thing is the job security....I've been in the same job 18 years and the other half has been doing the same since he was 14 y/old (26 years), so think a career/lifestyle change would benefit us greatly....just to get out of the same old rut and routine, to do something different with our lives and break out of the pigeon hole.

Enjoy your trip mate....have no doubt you will 

[workhorsewa]

I'm a SINK (single income no kids) ... and I've never ever considered spending $1000 a week to holiday on the road.  I've no idea what people could possibly spend that much $ on?  Where the hell are they going?  Is it caravan parks the whole way, eating meals on the run (not cooked at home so to speak), doing every touristy thing they possibly can and taking a zillion photos with a film camera, and trying to drive each day till they've spent that $1000 by the end of the week?  I just can't fathom where that much $ would go.  I know not every family in Australia is feeding 8 kids and 2 adults anymore, but $1000??

I also enjoy camping in places that aren't overly children oriented ... don't dislike kids either ... just don't enjoy the screaching noise of them at 0600 whilst I'm trying to enjoy The Serenity of the Back of My Eyelids.  I just expect the same respect (read: peace and quiet) from other campers that we give them.  Some camping area's cram you in so closely these days, that it's almost impossible not to impose on your neighbours if you aren't consciously aware of them.  I guess that's why we like bush camping so much.  You have the opportunity to relax because you aren't 2 foot from the campers next door.

As for life on the road without kids ... couldn't think of a more wonderful thing.  There is nothing that you will miss out on ... in fact quite the opposite.  The only thing I've found on various trips throughout my travelling lifetime, is that caravan parks can be kid oriented ... simply to save the parents sanity I believe.  Everything else ... not so much.  Go forth and enjoy.  Don't worry so much about what shouldn't be worried over.

Now that I have someone to come camping with me, we love getting away as much as possible.  I think I've infected him with the camping bug.     We take a fortnightly trip and are thinking about but not yet planning our big getaway.  Knowing his love of all things work, I doubt that we will get to do it until his (now) adult child has been effectively pushed from the nest sometime in his 40's.  One bonus there is ... at least we can leave him behind to feed my cats!

Kit_e

SINK....love it, never heard that one before  ....ye, we're not really Caravan Park ppl either....prefer "The Million Stars Motel", have stayed at quite a few stations....which can be fun and "interesting" sometimes, but LOVE the bush......but trees can sometimes be hard to find over here haha.  Happy camping mate and pleased to know you've converted the BF 

[mattnanne]

workhorsewa - DO IT!!!

We are NINKs (No Income, No Kids) at the moment with MIB (money in bank).  In March 2012 my partner and I decided to quit our jobs and take a six month holiday travelling around.  This was a bit of a recci to see if we would be able to handle doing it for longer.  We both had a house so we sold one and bought a block of land and had friends stay in the other while we were away.  After about 8 weeks we'd finally slowed down and decided that we could handle travelling around for longer.  From then on it was all about what we had to do when we got home to enable us to take off again. That entailed renovating the house and garden to get top rental dollar and getting all our other bits and pieces sorted out.

We are now 3 days into our long term travels with absolutley no plans to go home until we have to - i.e under 6 years for CGT implications on house rented out. After talking to heaps of people on our 6 month trip, we came to the conclusion that there is work out there if you want it.  We are both willing to give most things a go and plan on heading to Mackay, Qld to see how we go.  Then we will be DINKs!!

Its great to hear that there are others out there doing it.  Although it's a big decision to make, once you have, decide on a date and stick to it - we found that things fell into place.

We have just affixed a MySwag sticker to the tug and house and hope to see some other Swaggers on our travels.

Take care and safe travels.

Anne and Matt

2007 Triton and 2010 Allymaster

[chester ver2.0]

Well we are Dinks that went on the road for 5 months in 2010, got to WA and have stayed for a while to cash back up and clear a few debts then we are hitting it again. We loved the trip and want to go again this time debt free so we can go where the wind blows a bit more.
As for the finances $1000 dollars a week is not that far off I will break it down for you

We completed 22,000k in 5 months so this is an average of say 1000k per week. Now you all will say I will never drive that far but you need to consider that in WA it is a long was between stops and you have all your daily running around and side trips as well Now lets take an average of 17 litres per 100k, and you can all laugh but think you are towing and don’t take your weekend trip figures as a given as you will have more gear.
So we are going through a 170 litres of petrol per week x average of $1.60 per litre = $272 per week

Let’s now look at accommodation, once you get to NT and WA most places will charge you up to $35 for a powered site. Ok so you won’t stay in a caravan park all week so let’s say 4 nights at $35 per night and 3 nights in a national park or similar at $10 per night
Total accommodation for the week is $170 per week

Now let’s eat something, we averaged a pub meal maybe once per week so let’s say 2 pub meals plus drinks at $60 for both of us. The rest of the week we cooked our own food at lets say and average of $15 per day for the 2 of us (this is low as I purchased and Cryovacd almost 3 months of meat before I left.
Now let’s be honest we are on the road and to enjoy ourselves so let’s conservatively say a carton of beer at $50 per week and a bottle of Spirits or 2 bottles of wine at $30 for the week. ( refuse to drink Shit wine)

So our food for the week is $60 for 1 pub meal + $90 for the week for our home cooking + $50 for a slab of beer + $30 for sprits, wine and or mixers
Total food for the week =$230

Fun you are travelling Australia and you will want to see it all so be honest are you going to travel around the country and not see anything? I have listed below some of the things we did.
Katherine Gorge tour $130 for both of us
Darwin fishing trip $150 for me
Horizontal falls plane and boat ride $600 for the both
Whale shark tour $350 for the both
Rottnest Island ferry $80 dollars for us

So Looking at this you may as well budget yourself say $150 dollars per week for fun and additional stuff

So grand total per week
Fuel $272
Accommodation $170
Food $230
Fun $150
drum roll $822 per week.

Please note this is raw numbers only I have not included any figures for the following
Servicing on the road
Repairs on the road (we broke 1x UHF areal, 1x battery bracket and 1x deep cycle battery failed its load test at the end of the trip
Emergency fund
Any monthly bills you may have on the road (insurances etc)

I do not want to put anyone off it was the greatest trip we ever did but the common theme amongst travellers is that they always ended up spending more than they budgeted cause when you see something you like and have travelled 20k to get there WHY NOT

[cetacean]

  Maybe you could call us DISKS( double income shared kids) . I've had shared custody of my 2 girls for the last 10 years and have re-partnered with a great lady who loves the camping life. Kinda get the best of both worlds in the sense that I do trips both with and without the kids
   We're budgeting 500-600 a week when we travel around Oz(no kids ,will fly them over to meet us during the school holidays) As for 4 nights a week in a caravan park, I think I'd rather stay home ! I reckon we'll be more like  a night.every week or 2 at the most. If  $ 600 is all we can afford then that's all you can spend to my way of thinking

Darryl

[lilstookie]

That's right daryl. If you ain't got it you can't spend it.
We don't drink so save a heap of money. We will free camping 80% although will only do parks as a last resort. We been camping for years and never paid for it yet. We won't be in national parks as we have a dog.

Everyone's budget is different based on what the expect. For us it's food and fuel. That so far is our expenses.
I'd it's $250 food and $100 food then great.
We are not going on a holiday. We will be working with downtime in between jobs.
Life's what you make it, I'm just not making it expensive.

[Kit_e_kat9]

As for 4 nights a week in a caravan park, I think I'd rather stay home ! I reckon we'll be more like  a night.every week or 2 at the most. If  $ 600 is all we can afford then that's all you can spend to my way of thinking
Darryl

Well Said ... I agree completely with both statements. 

Kit_e
P.S.  I have a CVP allergy ... I'm allergic to going anywhere near them    so even 1 night a year would be out of the question.

[HEM19X]

I appreciate that many can [and will] survive on much less than $1000p.w. but as chester advises, there are many incidentals that make the trip so much more memorable. While even blowing a tyre on the CT could break the budget.

Personally, I would rather "have the cash & not need it, rather than need the cash & not have it". In fact, we we got home from our last 6 week trip, there was almost $1,500 in the kitty for next time - luckily we had no breakages but did have to get the 4BY serviced. 

[lilstookie]

I appreciate that many can [and will] survive on much less than $1000p.w. but as chester advises, there are many incidentals that make the trip so much more memorable. While even blowing a tyre on the CT could break the budget.

Personally, I would rather "have the cash & not need it, rather than need the cash & not have it". In fact, we we got home from our last 6 week trip, there was almost $1,500 in the kitty for next time - luckily we had no breakages but did have to get the 4BY serviced.

I agree with that and we have quite a large safety balance. Enough to replace the car. But the budgets for longevity of the trip and the reason we have the cash is down to our budget at home
We have no debt or credit cards so no outgoing payments.

Only 2 weeks and we see if it works

[bullfrog]

I can't wait to travel without the kids. At a guess, I would think the Cook & I could live a bit flasher & do it on about 1/2 the $$ compared to dragging 2.5 teenage girls all over the country side. For those without kids, how much food alone do you think kids can chew through in a week, without take away, without treats etc. F@#$%ng $hitloads is a common answer!! Let alone when you do stay at a CVP, ya get reamed out because you have kids, over 16 sir?? Oh, that will be $$$ more thanks!!..

[whitey1]

Yes! Another couple of DINKs here. Although soon to be NINKs! We've been on the road since July last year and have been working in Kununurra for the last six months. We have been lucky enough to be house sitting for that time(great way to save money on accom). In 3 weeks time we are off to play tourists again until we run out of money(6 months or so). We have no debt and our house is rented so we have some income from that.
We have found work easy to pick up(I was offered 2 jobs the day after we lobbed into Kununurra) although so far I've stuck to my trade(panelbeater) but want to try other stuff next time round.
As for $1000 a week? Not us. But we free camp as much as possible cause we like getting away from the crowds.
It does take a little while to slow down from the "4 weeks off" kinda holiday to a more long term relaxed pace.
In the end you can make all sorts of excuses why you can't go, but there are heaps more reasons to just do it and go!
Heres a thread on our trip(just a short one) http://myswag.org/forum/index.php?topic=15516.msg235608#msg235608
And this is our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Mrs-Whiteys-Great-Oz-Trek/235747646454328
Have a good trip and we may see you on the road

[lilstookie]

Our kids are 9 months and 2 so we got until school age to travel before the kids start becoming more expensive.

[mattnanne]

Hi workhorsewa
Just wondering if you've made the big decision yet?
We have now been away for 3 weeks and currently on the Gold Coast - my partner finds out today if he's got work for 3 months!
Take care
Anne

[funnyfarm]

I am sooooo not the person to reply to this thread.  My husband and I have 3 kids (7,5 and 20 months) and travel regularly. Just wanted to apologise in advance to anyone that doesn't have kids that camp near us  when we are out enjoying this lovely country of ours. My kids are good kids but yes they can be noisy and my son (20 months old) still cries sometimes at night. I get a bit anxious when he does this as he is going to wake others up and now i kinda feel justified in my worries, so apologies everyone if you are stuck camping near us. . I do try to keep the noise down but sometimes my son just don't recognise the importance of mummy pleading with him to stop crying, although i am hoping he learns this soon.

And i response to this thread, Amanda - GO FOR IT , YOU WON'T REGRET IT. You will have the time of your life

[nelle]

We aren't DINKS but we will be heading off in June for four weeks and trying out our preloved and newly modified camper.  Our 18 year old will be looking after our house and the pets and we will be on our own, for the first time in forever. Extremely excited and if all goes well we will be off for a longer trip ,  then we will be LINKS (limited income no kids)  . As for worrying about your baby crying, don't, you're obviously considerate of your fellow campers and those of us who have, or have had babies, just roll over and are grateful that WE don't have to get up lol. The camper is nearly finished and the MOTH has done a great job.  Will post some pics soon. 

Nelle

[Nay-DMAX]

Ah reading all theses posts about just packing up and travelling makes us want to hook the camper on now and go.  We also have no kids but we do have 2 dogs who we could take with us but we have a cat and 3 horses so those sort of commitments make long time travelling difficult.  Will have to aim for more weekends away I think.