Victorians Jack and Noelene (67 & 62) have sold up and hit the road … and they are still looking for a dream spot to call home
What do you travel in?
We bought a small second-hand Jayco when we started travelling two years ago. We sold our family home and thought it would be nice to tour the country looking for the perfect place to ‘downsize’ to and build a new life. We thought we would be on the road for a couple of months tops, but I now suspect we will buy a bigger van before we buy a smaller home!
Does that matter?
Not in the least … and that’s what we love about what we are doing. After a lifetime of working hard, we are now marching to the beat of our own drum. We’ve got our savings and our investments and, if and when we decide we’re at the right time and the place to put down roots again, we are in the position to be able to do that. But, if we continue to be as happy as we are now, we frankly don’t care if we never find our bricks and mortar ‘nirvana’.
Likes of the lifestyle?
Freedom, plain and simple. There are no demanding bosses, there are no looming work deadlines, and there are no pressing family commitments as our three kids are all well and truly settled and independent now. And, even if they weren’t, they wouldn’t know where to find us half the time!
Where will you settle?
I can honestly say, I haven’t got a clue … other than it will definitely be Australia! We fall in love with one area and then a few days later we fall in love with somewhere else. Our journals are just full of giant ticks next to locations. It seems such a shame that you can only live in one place at a time. Having been travelling a while now, it seems like staying in one house in one community means you miss out on so many opportunities to experience so many different things. Maybe you’d better ask me again in a few years when I’ve seen a bit more of the country.
Advice to wannabe nomads?
It has to be: ‘just do it’, but also ‘just do it slowly’. Don’t escape a lifetime of deadlines and commitments in order to replace it with more deadlines and commitments. Appreciate what you have because you are among the luckiest people on the planet, regardless of what rig you travel in or how tight your budget is.
