Househunting can be a notoriously stressful business … unless, of course, you happen to be a carefree grey nomad who’s not in a hurry to buy, and who’s got a whole country to explore before ‘settling down’ again.
Full-time travellers, Lawrie and Lourdes Thomas, sold their family home to hit the open road back in October, 2019, and they’ve had a blast.
Having put most of their possessions in storage, they left Melbourne on their adventure of a lifetime, and headed to WA’s south-west, before heading back across the Nullarbor, up through the Centre, and then all down the east coast. Now, after nearly 30,000 kilometres packed with adventure, fun and friendships, the couple are starting to unhurriedly think about what might come next.
Lawrie and Lourdes are taking their time looking out for a new home
“After 22 months on the road we are maybe looking to settle down and purchase a home but we’re still not sure where this will be and we’re in no rush,” said Lawrie. “We have seen some absolutely lovely places on our travels.”
Among their favourite places to have visited – but not necessarily to call their future home – have been Coober Pedy where they loved fossicking for opals, the ‘Rock’, and many areas of the NT where they were able to pursue their keen interest in Second Word War history.
They particularly enjoyed visiting the WWII storage tunnels in Darwin, and the abandoned Gorrie Airfield just north of Larrimah, which was once one of the largest military bases in the Pacific Theatre.
While they might now be veterans of the open road, prior to heading off on the ‘big one’ the pair had only done weekends away in their caravan.
But they did their homework.
“On the planning side, we did lots of reading, internet research, and we visited caravan parks to talk to travellers about their trips and to get their advice,” said Lawrie. “We always planned to travel for about two years – give or take – depending on how we were coping with the new lifestyle.”
For their ‘weekends away’, Lawrie and Lourdes, had a Jayco Swan Outback camper but they decided it was a bit too small for their big adventure, so they upgraded to a 20’ Jayco Journey Outback caravan, which they tow with a 2012 Ford Ranger.
So, with their planned two years on the road nearly up, how is the couple’s househunting going?
Well, it must be said the pair don’t seem like they are in a rush to put down a deposit just yet … and seem suspiciously happy to keep doing what they’re doing.
“Being grey nomads, we can sleep in every day if we wish, we start and stop whenever we want, there are no time limits, and we travel at our own pace … loving it,” said Lawrie. “And we do still need to do the west coast all the way from Perth to Darwin!”
