Extrovert Ben hugs wife Judy (above left), and in full entertainer mode (top right), and the couple's rig (bottom right).
When Ben Grothues hit the open road with wife Judy in 2010, he made it his mission to bring a little happiness to every place he stopped and a smile to every person he met.
While some grey nomads with a penchant for poetry or guitar playing may be reluctant to share their talents with fellow travellers, extrovert Ben has no such reservations.
“We love the Happy Hours in caravan parks and when free camping, and whenever the chance presents itself I endeavour to bring some sort of entertainment to the group,” he said. “My involvement with entertaining people has enriched our lives so much more and I can’t imagine a life without it.”
After years on the road, the jokester then has none of the qualms that other ‘shy’ nomads may have about drawing attention to themselves.
However, it wasn’t always like that. “When I was younger I used to be rather quiet – maybe not shy, but certainly not extroverted,” Ben said. “Then, during my stint in the Army as a National Serviceman in the early ’60s I came back a different person and much more gregarious.”
Ben didn’t to go to Vietnam so that had nothing to do with it, but something did change.
“I started to tell jokes and soon realised I had a talent for it,” he said. “From there, I also started to experiment with a few little acts and skits and even started to sing in Karaoke events and, as my confidence grew, I performed in front of people more often.”
Ben also does a whistling act a la Roger Whittaker in which he has everyone convinced it is him really whistling. He has ‘whistled’ at the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park, and particularly recalls a performance at a Karaoke Night at Barn Hill, south of Broome.
“With around 150 people sitting outside on the lawned area, I ‘whistled’ to my heart’s content and had people coming over to congratulate me on a great performance,” he said. “A few days later, on our way south we stopped at a roadhouse and had people calling out to me as the ‘Barn Hill Whistler’.”
And then there are the jokes.
“I have had no shortage of ideas to use and a folder filled with jokes, music CDs and funny anecdotes travels with us everywhere we go,” Ben said. “Judy is my staunchest supporter and I can rely on her to tell me when a joke comes across well … or not.”
Ben and Judy no longer travel full-time and bought a ‘base’ at a lifestyle village in WA. Not surprisingly, Ben is on the community’s social committee and enjoys a starring role in the annual concert. He urges other travellers not to be afraid to share their talents with others.
“It’s all about finding that initial bit of courage and then following up,” he said. “I also always make sure I know what I’m doing and read my script or speech if I can’t memorise it … that way I feel confident I can perform and won’t ‘lose it’ halfway through the act.”
