On the road with Santa!
Tucking my daughter Marli, five, and son Ziggy, three, into their bunk beds on Christmas Eve I said good night.
‘Wait!’ yelled Ziggy. ‘Are you sure Santa will know where to find us?’
‘Of course,’ I said, pointing to the elf on the shelf behind us. ‘That’s why Elfor is living with us, he will let Santa know where we are.’
Ziggy was worried because my husband Rob, 37, and I had taken them on the road in our caravan.
But it wasn’t a holiday – this was our new life!
On Christmas Day, we woke up on a farm in Tasmania.
After opening presents, Rob and the kids went fishing while I stayed at the camp, preparing a feast – a roast with all the trimmings.
‘Mum, look what Dad caught!’ an excited Marli shouted when they got back.
Rob was holding up a massive trout.
‘Do you think we can eat it for Christmas?’ he grinned.
I thought back to how different our Christmas had been the year before.
Scale and cook a fish then? No chance!
The last thing I’d needed was an extra chore.
Already exhausted, we’d spent the day shuttling back and forth between relatives.
Rob was a builder, working long days.
He’d taken two weeks off and we’d planned to spend quality time, but inevitably he’d ended up doing DIY projects around the house.
A photographer, I was busy on the weekends shooting weddings.
I’d have adventures with the kids on weekdays, but we were rarely all together.
‘Spending time as a family needs to be our priority,’ I’d said to Rob.
The next Saturday, we piled into the car with a picnic and headed to the beach.
It was a disaster.
We drove around for more than an hour trying to find somewhere to park.
When we did finally get to the beach it was so crowded.
‘How about a tree change?’ Rob suggested.
It was a great idea so we went to look at houses in the country.
But the yards were big and would take time to maintain.
Plus, every house was a renovator’s dream and I knew Rob wouldn’t be able to help himself doing it up.
We’d see each other even less, I thought.
Stuck in traffic on the way
home, I
daydreamed about the camping adventures we’d had in the past.
‘We should rent out the house, pack up and take the kids travelling!’ I exclaimed.
It was a joke but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
We could do it before the kids start school, I thought.
Seeing how excited I was, Rob agreed.
‘Let’s do it!’ he said.
So we sold all our furniture and started searching for a caravan.
The closer we got, the more excited I became.
‘When this trip is over, I don’t think I can come back to Sydney,’ I told Rob. ‘We should just sell the house.’
Only two weeks later, that was gone too!
This is a sign, I thought. We’re doing the right thing.
Finding an amazing caravan with all mod cons, it’s really an apartment on wheels.
Relying on solar power, we don’t get any bills!
In October 2017, we set off.
Heading south to Melbourne, we stopped for the night at Jervis Bay.
Waking up the next morning, it was only a 10-step walk from our door to the beach.
After breakfast, the kids built sandcastles, while Rob went fishing and I did yoga.
‘This is heaven,’ Rob said. ‘Let’s stay a few more days.’
Learning to slow down, we took six weeks to travel to Melbourne, then boarded the ferry to Tasmania.
Pulling into a farm stay the week before Christmas, we knew we’d found the perfect place for our first holiday on the road.
We sang carols around the fire then Santa came to hand out lollies with his helper, Rudolph the red nosed ram!
After Chrissy, we set off exploring Australia, chasing the sun wherever we went.
We marvelled at Cathedral Gorge in Purnululu National Park, camped under the stars in the Kimberley and cycled around Rottnest Island.
My favourite adventure was swimming with whale sharks off the coast of WA.
After 14 months travelling, we have no plans to stop.
We’ve started documenting our journey on Instagram, @theblondenomads.
Now we don’t live for those two weeks off a year.
We’re giving our kids the best gift every day – time together.
Tired and stressed out, Tracy knew her family needed a drastic change
Tracy Morris, 34, On the road somewhere in Oz!
‘This is heaven,’ Rob said. ‘Let’s stay a few more days’