Blog post number 1

Well here I am! all set up with a blog (feeling fancy) and ready to start sharing our very exciting adventure that is coming up soon!

In March this year we moved to Kalgoorlie from our home town of Parkerville, in Perth Hills. We were looking for something a bit different. We had originally talked about me and the kids moving to Leonora as Craig had a good job there. But he wasn't settled and wanted to apply for a few jobs elsewhere and see what happened. Well as it turned out he got a position in Kalgoorlie. So here we are.

Moving out of our comfort zone was actually a blessing, because it made us both realise that it wasn't so much a change of town that we wanted, but a change of life style.

The last seven years have been HUGE for us. We got married, had three babies, I finished my degree, and my Post Grad, Craig closed his business and went working FIFO. We have bought and sold cars and had ups and downs. But pretty much it has just been full on.

So we get to Kalgoorlie and a month or so into it Craig and I are having a conversation and as per usual my over active mind starts with hypotheticals that poor Craig really does his best to answer! Sitting at our kitchen table after breakfast one Sunday I said  'what would you really like to do, if you could do anything you wanted?'. He answered without much hesitation 'travel Australia'. And we both processed the idea like it was a distant dream, bit like winning lotto or something.  Anyway the conversation was shortly ended (due to a kid wanting something of course) and we didn't discuss any further.

A couple of nights later, just as Craig was turning off the light (I was in bed nearly asleep) Craig says 'you know if we sold the house we could do it'. I answer 'do what?' and he replies 'travel Australia, do you want to?' Me being half asleep said 'ok'.

So the few days after that were full of crunching numbers, working out what we would do with the dogs, the kids schooling, our house, our furniture, how long we could go for, and what set up we would need to drive and live on the road.

Craig and I are never ones to procrastinate, usually if we have an idea we do it. So I knew as soon as we got this ball rolling that it was going to happen.  Each road block was discussed and we came up with a plan.

The dogs were my number one main concern and I would not travel anywhere if they weren't with someone who would look after them for me. Giving them away is not an option. I wouldn't go if it was. Anyways, I have an AMAZING (times 100) little sister who loves animals. She was the first person who knew about our plan because without her having our pups there would be no plan. In a simple text message of me saying 'oh we want to go on a road trip around Australia will you have my two dogs' I get back a response 'of course I will'. Which is very generous but she is the perfect person to have them.

Working out how long we wanted to travel for was another topic. We both agreed that six months was a good amount of time. I needed a time line as I am not the sort of personality who can handle a fly by your pants travel schedule. Some people can do it indefinitely and hats off to you, but I stressed to Craig that this was a holiday and not a long term gypsy nomad existence! So six months it is. Good time frame for our finances, the kids and our careers.

Next discussion point was financial. To fund a trip we would need money of course. Craig worked out figures (he is the numbers man) and we found if we sold our house we would have enough money to pay out our car, travel for six months (on a budget) and put aside a large chunk for a deposit on another house when we returned. We have a rental unit we purchased last year that we can use as a plan B when we get home. To either sell it to help fund a new house or to live in till we save some coin to buy. I am attached to my home and found the concept of selling it was a hard one. But really, at the end of the day, it was our stepping stone. Never a forever house, and we could easily replace it when we finished our travels.

Kids schooling wasn't a hard one for me. I know that the girls will learn far more on the road than they would in a classroom. I am lucky enough that Miss 6 is well ahead and could easily miss six months of school and still be ahead. the other two kids are small enough to not have a concern about missing a formal education. Plus, as a teacher I think I am perfectly qualified to teach the three kids as we go! I may look into School of Distance Education or I may turn home school mum.

As for the furniture, well it cost that bloody much to get it to Kalgoorlie I really couldn't justify moving it back to Perth. most of our items were purchased well before kids, so it was time for an update on most of our stuff. I made a list (cause Im good at that) of what I wanted to keep. And got it down to my tupperware, our bed and our outdoor table! A small truck can move that and our few boxes at a fraction of the price. And we can store it at my Mum and Dads house for free (I haven't asked them yet but I reckon its ok!)

Our Nissan Pathfinder is a 2012 model and is reliable and modern enough to take. Our near new PMX camper, although cheaper than some of the flash ones on the market, would be more than capable of housing us for six months. We may have to tow it to the tip by the time we get home though!

As for times, well at this point, we have set a leaving date for March 2015. This date is when our lease is up on this house in kalgoorlie. Craig will have a year experience as a workshop foreman, kids will be ready for a new school year, my sister will have had her baby girl (I'm NOT leaving perth till she is born!) the weather will be good, and we will have enough time between now and then to put some money aside.

Phew! lots to write in my first blog!

Will write soon about what we plan on taking with us and where we plan to go. Thanks for reading everyone :)