Having been camping and 4WDing since they were in their teens, there was only one thing that Richard and Gay Conway wanted to do when they retired some six years ago … hit the open road long-term!
Then aged 62, the couple wanted to take advantage of their reasonable health by ticking off their biggest bucket list item.
Having previously been tenters, the upgrade to a caravan was luxury.
“I did a lot of research on the combination, especially in regards to weights and safety,” said Richard. “We settled on an 18’6 2012 Kidman tandem-axle semi-offroad and a Holden Trailblazer wagon.”
While the planning was perfect, the timing wasn’t!
Gay and Richard enjoying a campfire on the Shaw River, WA
The pair set off in 2020 right at the start of Covid and so had to rapidly adjust their plans.
“It meant that we spent the first eight months in our home state where we had travelled extensively before,” said Richard. “But, being full time, meant no time constraints this time and we could enjoy places we stopped at for as long as we liked.”
As self-funded retirees who had rented their house out, Richard and Gay had a budget that also allowed them to do some special tours and enjoy a great lifestyle.
The trusty rig has clocked up some miles … and it’s not done yet!
“This equated to approximately $3,200 per month for the first two years, and around $5,000 per month in the third year when we were in WA, which was a lot more expensive than the other states,” said Richard. “We used a phone app called Spending Tracker that allowed us to break down expenditure into as many categories as we needed.”
The pair did about 80% free or low-cost camping, and 20% in van parks when they visited major tourist towns.
“We also shopped in small towns for groceries every couple of days as this helped with space and weight,” said Richard. “The locals all appreciate the travellers that stop and spend a few dollars, and they take the time to have a chat about their region.”
In their 3.5 years on the road, the Conways travelled 120,000 kilometres, around 20,000 kilometres of which was on dirt roads.
“The only thing that disappointed us was the small minority that didn’t follow the rules and were inconsiderate of other campers, leaving rubbish around, being noisy late at night, and camping in areas not allowed,” said Richard.
When they finally returned home, the couple said adjusting to ‘normal’ life was easy … at least at first!
“We still regularly travel but for short trips of around a week, and longer trips of six to eight weeks,” said Richard. “Now, we are itching to go on a big one again … there are places we missed and will get to next time.”
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We retired at 60, we’re 75 now.
We’ve travelled around 180,000 kms with our caravan.
We’ve been all over the place but have never had any desire to do a big lap.
On our travels we’ve never met anyone else who has done a big lap.