LIFE’S A ROAD TRIP

 

What started out as a nine month trip around Australia, has slowly turned into an indefinite life on the road for Nick, Brodie and Quinn.

 

We got the opportunity to talk to @location.lost about how they took their leap of faith, began their journey on the road, the challenges they faced, and all the bits in between. 

 

A year ago, the dream of living life on the road all started with Nick and Brodie asking themselves ‘what truly makes us happy?’.

 

For this small family, now living in their tiny home on wheels, the answer become clear. Traveling together, experiencing new places and the freedom to create their own schedule, were all things that were top of their list.

 

Since hitting the road in March 2021, in their vintage Toyota Coaster Bus, they now call home, they’ve fallen in love with a slower pace of living.

 

The blog and Instagram @location.lost was created as an outlet for Nick and Brodie, to share their passion for travel, their bucket lists, and all the experiences that come with life on the road. Life on the road is not always perfect, but has been a rewarding journey so far for this small family of 3.

 

 

Nick and I have been married for eight years, we met through mutual friends in Brisbane. Nick is a high voltage sparky by trade and I’ve been teaching yoga full time for the past eight years, but my background is in marketing & advertising. Before the pandemic hit we had a round the world trip planned, which sadly didn’t go ahead. We couldn’t stand the thought of throwing away our dreams of travel so buying a bus and doing a lap of AUS was plan B, one that has been surprisingly life changing and so rewarding. 

 

 

When overseas travel was no longer an option we just kept working and grinding as best we could. After a while we knew we needed to make a big change in our lives to be happy. We wanted to figure out a way to honour our highest value of travel. When we started looking into exploring our own backyard we realised that ‘vanlife’ was the best option. Prior to buying the bus we had a small VW Caddy van for weekends away in Bryon Bay so we had experience living in a tiny home for short periods of time. I think just knowing local travel was our only option and having the savings there, as well as not being content with our lives at the time, it was a no brainer for us to hit the road.    

 

 

 

We did save a lot before we left. We saved about 40k so we could enjoy our first months on the road and not have to work. The hardest part was finding the right vehicle for us. Vans might be easier to find now that the world is opening up again but at the time there wasn’t much on the market. Everyone had the same idea. We purchased our bus through private sale on Facebook marketplace, which was a bit daunting, but in the end we feel so lucky with the timing and love our retro little home.

 

 

Instagram is the highlight reel of our lifestyle so there are definitely challenges on the road. Having a dog is a big one for us as it means we can’t go into National Parks without finding a puppy sitter for Quinn. We wouldn’t be without her but it just adds extra logistics and expense to our trip. You’re living in a tiny home too, so if you’re use to a lot of space and time away from your partner then it can be a big adjustment to spend literally 24/7 together in a tiny space. Luckily we still all love each other and are happy to spend a lot of time in each other’s company. Carving out alone time and making time for your own hobbies and interests is a really important thing to do on the road.

 

 

Oh the freedom! Being in nature. Having a sense of agency over what our day is going to look like and just slowing life right down

 

 

For me (Brodie) it’s our Nespresso Mini coffee machine. Our morning coffees have become such a ritual for us, just opening the back doors of the bus and taking in the view with a good coffee is my favourite start to the day. For Nick it’s his tool kit. Having an older vehicle means constant maintenance, you know things fall apart, we push the limits sometimes going off the beaten path, so we’d be lost without Nicks handyman skills and that tool box.

 

 What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned on the road?

 

Appreciating the small things and slowing life down brings happiness. Opening up to constant change and letting go of control. Sometimes the best experiences and places are the ones we didn’t plan.

 

 

There are some incredible free camps through Northern Territory and rural WA that we just loved. Pulling up at sunset, getting a camp fire started without another soul around, just magic!

 

 

Litchfield National Part – Northern Territory

Uluru – Northern Territory

Karijini National Park – Western Australia

Exmouth – Western Australia

Esperance – Western Australia

 

 

The less you plan the better. Do your research on those bucket list spots you want to see, but also be open to plans changing and getting local advice along the way. We left on this trip with very little expectation and it’s meant we’ve been absolutely blown away by everything we’ve seen so far.

 

 

So many! The big bucket list spots are incredible but honestly sometimes it’s the small moments that are the most precious. Getting to have a different backyard every night. Watching the sun rise and set. Parking up in the middle of nowhere without another soul for miles. It’s the smaller moments together as a family that have made this trip and lifestyle so special.

 

 

For now our plan is just to chase summer and keep exploring this beautiful WA coastline. We still haven’t seen South Australia which is definitely on the bucket list so hoping to head there when summer rolls around again this year.