The Cull

One of the appeals of going on a caravan adventure around Australia is living a scaled back life. It's a kind of living minimalism. I had all these zen-like fantasies of getting rid of unwanted possessions and revelling in the clarity of it all. I know,... I'm a stupid idiot sometimes.

The reality is that the cull has been incredibly painful. I realised that there are a lot of possessions that I hold on to because they mean something to me, not because I use them. It gives me comfort to know they're there, even if I haven't used them in 3 years. I like knowing that they're there, should I want to use them one day. I have been surprised how painful it has been to part with some things,... and conversely how easy it has been to part with others.

As for experiencing clarity,... well, it's too early to tell yet. Stay tuned on that topic.

Houston, we have Caravan...

We had a day trip to the Brisbane Camping and Caravan Expo today - and came away with a caravan! How convenient for us that the show happened to be scheduled for the weekend after our house went under contract. Perfect timing.

We weren't planning on buying a new van, the plan had always been to get ourselves a good but secondhand model. However, being a show and there being some "craaaaazy deals" going around, we got a fantastic deal on a Jayco J-Series poptop van. It's 5.2m (16ft 10in) and has all the things you really want - a nice big roll-out awning (soon to be coupled with a full annexe), gas/elec stove, microwave, and most importantly AIR CONDITIONING. There is no way I am travelling this country without aircon - if that makes me a wimp so be it, but that's the reality of the situation!

And it was only a trifle more expensive than a secondhand unit - so the budget isn't completely blown, merely stretched. Semantics rock :)

Here's some pics of the van and its innards (click the pics for bigger photos). We think it will be perfect for our adventures...

Making the decision sell up and go

As with all life changing events, they start with a seed of an idea. I can still remember making the suggestion that we go caravanning,... It was about half way down a logical train of thought that went something like this:-

We can't afford the house and car repayments, why don't we refinance? We've refinanced every second year for the past seven or eight years. Why not just sell and get out of debt? It would also save us bucket loads of stress and loads of money each year in rates. It would also mean we could pay off the car. We realised that if we sold our house we'd be out of debt and a lot better off in the short term,... There would even be a bit left over to do something intelligent with.

Scott, feeling like he had reached a crossroads in his life, was considering retraining. He was looking into doing a course by correspondence. Studying by correspondence is the same done in a Brisbane library, or on a beach side town like Yeppoon. If you're studying, why not do it by the sea with a line in??? The sense of relaxation can only enhance your ability to think clearly, absorb new concepts and make convincing arguments.

As for my day job, motherhood is also a portable occupation,... particularly when you have a one-year old with a penchant for exploring.

It was about this point in proceedings that I threw in a suggestion that we go caravanning. Travelling around in a motorhome had long been a fantasy of mine,... one I often entertain when I'm feeling romantic about discovering Australia. The fantasy had been modified, for practical reasons, to a caravan. This is so you don't have to pack up your site when you want to go for a drive to the local shops or see the sites. It's more sensible than a motorhome. This is a fantasy that I'd much rather do now, than in 30 years when my joints are too rusty to enjoy it.

The suggestion was thrown into the air like a tiny little mustard seed and it landed in fertile soil. It has taken root and is giving us a great sense of excitement as it grows. I don't think our friends and family really thought we'd do this.

SOLD!

The house is now under contract! Wooooohooooo!

It's still got a couple of weeks until it's unconditional (conditional on pest & building inspections, and finance for the buyer), but it's still awesome news, and we're realy happy with the price that's been agreed on too.

With the contract, it's only just hit me now that this is ACTUALLY happening - that the adventure is going to happen, and we're on track to be away before Christmas. We knew the plan (loose as it is), but it's almost like something just clicked in my head that it's a real trip we're going on, rather than just a plan. Can't wait!

House selling

Well, the house has been on the market for a week now, and we've had around 10 lots of people through for a look. We are SO SICK AND TIRED of keeping the house spotless (not just clean, but stupidly clean) that we just want someone to come and buy it so we can go and do our thing.

We do have one offer on the table as we speak, but the negotiations continue. We had one couple (not the ones who made the offer) inspect for a whole hour this morning, which is a LONG time. We half expect an offer from them too, but we'll see how it pans out. We figure it's unlikely to be on the market too long - there's not a whole lot of properties for sale in our area and in the price range we're in, so in theory it shouldn't be too long till we're in full packing mode. With a bit of luck...




We think the house scrubbed up pretty well. I think I will miss living here - but hopefully we'll be having too much fun to notice :)

Preparations...

We have had our house on the market for approximately 24hours, and already we're sick of keeping it tidy. I just hope someone comes along and buys it soon, and we're not left sitting around in limbo for too long...

I spent most of today talking with Tony about him taking over the business. He's in the process of buying it off me - handover date is next Friday. It's a sad time, handing over what is really my baby, but onward and upward - it will allow us to go on this adventure of a lifetime without the hassle of trying to run the business while on the road. By the sounds of it, he's got some great plans for the business - some stuff that I never had the ability/funds/inclination/ability to do. I hope it goes great for him.

Blog Created!

Hi all, we now have a blog for our adventures! I'm working on prettying it up a little and making links work, and stuff like that, but this is the home of our blog. Should be fun!