Taking off for a few months???

[Willow Girl]

Gonna be a bit nosey here... but, those who have taken off for months on end... how do you afford it. I would absolutely love to do this  before our 10 yr old grows up much more,but with a morgage and such it just seems impossible!

[topcat]

Hi WG - did 8 weeks up in NT / Kimberley / Exmouth in June / July - took long service leave and tried to keep a lid on the costs. Got 2 boys aged 12 and 9 and the oldest goes to high school next year. Had a credit card bill when I got back and will repay over the next few months.
Hope that helps.
Tony

[speewa158]

Willow Girl  The long march starts with the 1st step  . Sort out where you are going to sleep & your kitchen , Rent the house to pay the morgage & rates , stash your gear somewhere then  GO.
Travel till you want to stop Distance School the youngen , & watch as they learn more than any school can offer. Work & drink & wander as the mood takes you . The road will test you , show you things you have & will never see again .
Try it for 12  months , have a go you mug .
Today Tonight had a blerb about fruit picking in Swanhill . Get the Harvest Trail book at any Center Link to get you going . So do some rearserch & get going .
& keep us in the loop  

[chester ver2.0]

We actually took a risk and just quit our jobs saved up bout 15 grand before we left and that covered 4 months in style and some bills as well.
Residing in perth getting the funds back up at the moment

[speewa158]

Chester the only risk is that you might be out of your comfort zone for a time , then you get into the groove & things start to flow . Well done stash the cash when you get work enjoy your time then when it is your time you decide to move .This is very empowering . 

[Paul (SA)]

I am looking at long service leave as well. We have also tried to get a bit ahead on the mortgage to ease the pressure. After LSL then it will be 2 to 3 week annual holidays and long weekends on flex leave.

[GU Rich]

We actually took a risk and just quit our jobs saved up bout 15 grand before we left and that covered 4 months in style and some bills as well.
Residing in perth getting the funds back up at the moment

Thats what we did also, but no style here 

We had jobs within a week of returning home.


Rich

[Bird]

I don't think theres a person on here that wouldn't like to do it. Some peoples lives/situations allow for this.

But as some say, 'We took a risk'...
Its a risk to come back to no job, and a $4000 in bills with gas, water, elect cut off. Some careers are easier to get back into too! Some people work while they are away (I think Joff was it? He did 12+ mths away had a thread recently on his trip which is my dream that will never happen)

You need to work out *if* your situation and careers allow this.

[Nomad]

I think about this often.
I would love to surf the desert points and beaches in WA and SA but it is not going to happen anytime soon. I am lucky that I have a business partner and he wants to travel to. So once our business is through this GFC schmoozle we are talking about taking 4 or 6 months off each at a time to travel. But that is a fair way off at this point. So I guess I am saying just work out what you are anchored to an find a way to get away from it reasonably. A mate of mine has a heap of IGA's and he managed 6 months away with an IPad and IPhone keeping him in touch. So you can work out a way. Have a great time on the trip you have planned and let that lead you to what you want to do next.

[speewa158]

Are we dreaming the dream or is it on your bucket list 

[GU Rich]

I don't think theres a person on here that wouldn't like to do it. Some peoples lives/situations allow for this.

But as some say, 'We took a risk'...
Its a risk to come back to no job, and a $4000 in bills with gas, water, elect cut off. Some careers are easier to get back into too! Some people work while they are away (I think Joff was it? He did 12+ mths away had a thread recently on his trip which is my dream that will never happen)

You need to work out *if* your situation and careers allow this.

We came back and got jobs totally different to we had before we left. Who knows we might do it ll again a few years!

Cheers

[chester ver2.0]

I will qualify by risk i meant that we had some small debt on the car when we left. We minimised this by simply stating that by time x we must be in a large regional hub or capital city to find work.

Our current plan is to clear all remaining debt put a bit of a next egg aside and then go again indefinitly as we only need to wory about food and fuel money.

A couple of savings tips we used that worked
Dont buy your lunch for work between the 2 of us that saved 150 er week (we both worked in the city) or $7800 per year
I stated riding to work 3 days per week saved me i recon about 30 dollars per week in fuel $1560 per year
2 of us + no kid we were going out for dinner a lot we cut this down to 1 per month
If you have a home loan and you are ahead consider switching to interest only
Even though i left my job my employer asked me if i would consider leave without pay so they could ge me back (you could investigate this)

I feel that a few sacrifices over 12 months can get you the cash for a 3 month 3 state trip away.

[Top.ender]

Willow Girl  The long march starts with the 1st step  . Sort out where you are going to sleep & your kitchen , Rent the house to pay the morgage & rates , stash your gear somewhere then  GO.
Travel till you want to stop Distance School the youngen , & watch as they learn more than any school can offer. Work & drink & wander as the mood takes you . The road will test you , show you things you have & will never see again .
Try it for 12  months , have a go you mug .
Today Tonight had a blerb about fruit picking in Swanhill . Get the Harvest Trail book at any Center Link to get you going . So do some rearserch & get going .
& keep us in the loop 

what he said   

[jaycamrie]

Willow girl i have wanted to do this for like ever, and it seems like it never will happen so wife and i have put plan into place we have ordered a camper which we think we can be comfortable in starting next year we are going to do 4-6 weeks a year and see where that takes us we have 2 young kids and i reckin it would be great to show them around abit, like you we wonder how to afford it all but on the other hand if you cannot take a holiday and enjoy the fruits of your labour whats the point