Zol is set up for free camping
While there is no shortage of grey nomads who don’t develop ‘Wanderlust’ until they near retirement age, many others are bitten by the bug significantly earlier.
Veteran adventurer Zol Straub definitely falls into the latter category.
“I’ve had itchy feet since I was about 12-years-old … and I’m still scratching them,” he said. “I realised at an early age that you get one chance in this life and bogging myself down with the mortgaged urban lifestyle wasn’t going to cut it for me.”
It all meant that age 41, Zol sold his house, gave up an established career, bought a yacht and ‘went cruising during the recession we had to have’.
“I’d work for six months and cruise for six months, and it was an idyllic lifestyle,” he said. “Then, after about 20 years, I swallowed the anchor, bought a caravan and started ‘cruising’ on land.”
These days the now 72-yearold has a home base in Yamba, NSW, and generally goes away for six months every year.
“My rig is a modest 14’ Jayco Starcraft towed by a Subaru Outback and I have fitted it out to suit my needs and wants,” he said. “I quite like the compactness of my rig despite the frustration of occasionally not having an adequate payload capacity.”
Zol says he is very particular about weight limits and distribution, and keeps within the stated Gross Combined Mass limits of the tug and van at all times.
“I have a Reich scale that I use to ensure my compliance,” he said. “It concerns me the number of rigs I see that are blatantly overloaded, not just by holidaymakers but by grey nomads as well.”
For power, Zol uses two 120AH AGM batteries charged by the tug while driving, two fixed 80 watt solar panels, one portable 80 watt solar panel and back-up Honda 1Kva gennie via a 240v 20 amp smart charger.
“Whilst my van is not an offroad version, with judicious driving I can often squeeze into bush camp sites not accessed by bigger rigs,” he said. “This is particularly handy as I almost always free camp by preference.”
As an avid prospector and photographer, Zol’s trips generally take him to the goldfields and other historic places, and he avoids the coast which he finds too busy.
“Ironically my trips take me south for the winter when most head north,” he said. “This means that I am frequently exposed to sub zero temperatures but, having a diesel heater, makes the van quite cosy if not too hot at times!”
Given he is a solo traveller who likes to hike into remote off track areas, Zol says he is very mindful of his own mortality.
“I always carry a PLB, a GPS, extra water and a snake bite kit,” he said. “My tip for anybody contemplating any adventure is maintain your sense of humour and don’t put it off until you think everything is perfect … it never is!”
Good on you Zol many adventures to be had
Happy travels and keep at it