Upon arriving to Australia for the first time on a Working Holiday Visa, many travellers, myself included, cannot wait to explore this big and very vast country. Usually, after a few days or weeks on the Australian soil though, many realize that it can be quite tricky to manage to see it all. This country is extremely big and travelling via air is often the best and quickest way to get from one city to the next. For that reason, some, then, decide to work in several cities as a way to see all that this country has to offer; while others travel across Australia first (backpacking style or road tripping) and then work to get some money back into their bank accounts. I did neither. I thought, coming here, that I would choose the first option but in the end, Sydney made things quite comfortable for me in the first 6 months and so I stayed in that area longer than expected to work and enjoy the Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. But as I hit and passed my halfway mark in Australia, it suddenly dawned on me that I had only really visited and experienced two Australian cities: Sydney and Melbourne. Granted, that is already pretty cool but there was still so much left to see from this massive country. Therefore, when the opportunity for me to go on a road trip across Australia presented itself, you bet that I was on board! Finally, I would get to explore the rest of this country and to be honest, finally I would get to experience the adventure and freedom that often comes from being on the road for a prolonged amount of time. 

But as expected, with every adventure comes a few sets of challenges, which I expected… However, imagining the kind of challenges one might face and going through them is quite a different story. That is why today I would like to share with you what I have learned from being on the road for a month now. These are my experiences, so far, from doing a road trip across Australia: 5 lessons from living in a van (our vehicle of choice: see picture below).

This post will hopefully help those of you who are planning a big road trip with a few tips and tricks or will  at least provide you with a new perspective when it comes to dealing with the bumps you will meet along the road. There is always a brighter side to every difficult situation or problem and this is how I choose to view some of those challenges (or rather “changes”) I have been exposed to while on the road.

As mentioned earlier, it has now been a month since I left Sydney to start this road trip and living in a mini-van has forced me to make several “adjustments” to my daily routine and lifestyle. Some were expected and others made things extremely uncomfortable at first. But as time went by and I got used to this new way of living, these challenges quickly became blessings in disguise as they help me have even more gratitude for all the things I have left behind and the comfort I used to enjoy daily…

Therefore, I share with you today my:

5 Lessons from Living in a Van ( Road Tripping Across Australia)

1/ Cherish and Appreciate Hot & Running Water

Okay, okay. I know you may think: “duh” or “hmm, not really a big deal”. But trust me, warm water that is accessible to you on a daily basis is an amazing utility and comfort! No, seriously. I knew how lucky I was to have such an amenity available to me on the daily and yes, I had been without warm water on a few occasions before… But these were short-lived experiences and I knew that warm water would come back eventually. Well, on this road trip… warm water is obviously NOT included in the mini-van that is not only our vehicle, our bedroom, our kitchen, our living space and… our home pretty much (see picture below). All we have is this little pump sink, attached to an old container for 10L of water. 10L of water go by really quickly when you wash your hands, face, brush your teeth or have to do the dishes, trust me!

And as much as I thought: “oh this will be a little bit of a challenge but I got this!”, I was WRONG. Warm water is one of the things I often missed the most on the first few days. There are days where it is okay to do the dishes out of our tiny pump sink, but there are other times when the task can get quite messy and difficult (think below zero temperatures and frozen hands)! So not only have I learned to value the odd hot showers that we get to enjoy every couple of days (hey, a mini-van does NOT come with a shower either), but I am also so grateful for the few times, I get to do the dishes with warm water (some campsites do offer that). Warm water is definitely number one on my list of gratitudes. May it be for something as easy as refreshing my body or something a little more complex, like doing the dishes. My tip for you is: fill up in water at service stations or camp sites and then warm some up in the pan or pot (whether to drink it or to use it to do greasy dishes). As for keeping your body clean, baby wipes and my trusty rose water have now become my best friends when there is no shower in sight… But hey, it is part of the adventure and so I embrace these moments too. Warm water is a beautiful luxury that many of us enjoy on the daily without realizing it. Savour it, folks. It is a pretty awesome thing!

2/ Be Thankful for Your Fridge & Other Kitchen Appliances

Once again, most of you are like: “hmm, no biggie. I can go a couple of days, weeks without one”. And sure enough, you can. But once you are on the road and one of your goals is to eat as healthy as possible: Trust me, a fridge is a VERY handy little appliance. Of course, most massive camper vans now offer that option. Our mini-van doesn’t. It just has a tiny little cooler. And since travelling first down South, we thought it would suffice (given the cooler temperatures over there). Sure it did, to a certain extent and with a few tricks. This is how much I usually fit in our tiny cooler and this is what it often contains:

Mostly fresh produce (fruits & veggies), free-range eggs, dates, oats, raw honey, cacao powder, flax seeds, hummus, and occasionally sardines or sun-dried tomatoes)

Most of these items have to be eaten within 2-3 days. I usually put most of the perishables (i.e. fruits and veggies that I gather along the way) in there as well to help preserve them longer. But of course, as we approach the Tropics (Cairns is our next stop in a couple of days), I am not sure how long things will preserve in there with no ice. Ice packs sometimes leak and so might make things a bit tricky. But I will find a way for sure.

Not having a fridge handy dandy has taught me two things: to shop wisely whenever we do our groceries and that leftover meals are a thing of the past. So the meals I prepare on a daily are eaten completely on that day! Less waste. Since we cannot afford to store any perishable food for too long, we have to eat all of the produce we buy pretty quickly as most produce will not last long without refrigeration. That’s the first tip. The second one is to buy produce that lasts longer without being refrigerated (think apples, mandarines, bananas, pears, celery, zucchinis, carrots… and even tomatoes). Thank God, we eat mostly plant-based meals. I cannot imagine the difficulty of having to do this with fresh meat, fish or poultry! Fruits and veggies are easy to go through quickly.

3/ Enjoy Your Space & Time Alone

If you are road tripping on your own, then you will get a lot of space and a lot of time by yourself. But if you, like most people, do travel with one or two more people in a small confined space for a long period of time, it is a completely different story. Sharing such a small living space with another human being, as much as you love and appreciate them, can quickly become tricky too. Let’s just say that you get to know them a LOT more… And when it comes to quarrels (because they will happen, no doubts), it forces you to choose your battles wisely and to find a way to keep your cool (there is really no where else you can retrieve to while on the road; the person is there 24/7). But the gratitude lesson is: you learn to appreciate SPACE and time alone.

For yourself and others. Not only physical space but also space to grow, space to think, space to move, space to be with yourself, space to experience the rest of the world, and space to simply BE…

Private space and time alone is a new luxury in my book now. Being on this road trip, I do spent a good 80-90% of my time with my travel mate; but the few times, I get to be alone are so welcomed. It allows me to find myself again and to also cool off (when necessary). So once again, value your time alone and make sure to always carve some time every day to spend with yourself, alone. You deserve it!

4/ Electricity is An Amazing Invention

Yes, you knew that too. But wait until you really have to deal with zero electricity for a longer period of time and then let me know how you feel. Chances are it will be an adjustment too. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time away from civilization and in Nature (hiking, camping trips, retreats, etc). But being on the road and living in a van is again a different story. There is no home (or wood cabin) to come back to. So whether for heat or light, you have to find another way. Torches and layers, it is (see picture below: cooking in colder temperatures and once the sun had already set):

Typical Kitchen Setup At Night

But my biggest take away from this experience is living according to the cycles of the sun rising and setting. It is a whole new way of living. Cooking in the dark is not ideal, so I make sure to prep most of our meals before the sun sets. It is winter here so the sun will set before 6 pm. This make for earlier dinner times and so earlier bed times as well. Rising up with the sun becomes easy and makes for some pretty awesome early mornings enjoying beautiful sunrises and beach walks or evenings enjoying the sun setting. Having no electricity means less distraction at night and more time to enjoy a good book, or watch the starry night. It truly is something I have come to appreciate and love during this road trip.

Sunrise in Byron Bay

Sunset near Jervis Bay

5/ The Internet Makes Us All Connected

Yes, I dared include this corny lesson in this post. Hear me out: I do appreciate the time off the grid and the time off the internet a lot! I get to discover amazing spots in Nature and often enjoy views like these:

Amazing Beach in Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay…

OR even these:

Lake in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve

Forest in Victoria, near Lake Elizabeth

Experiencing such beauty would not have been possible, had I not decided to hop on this crazy adventure. So, I am immensely grateful for it.

Nevertheless, whenever we enter a zone where I can catch some free wifi or enjoy Internet in a café (like today), I am extremely excited and happy because I get to reconnect with the rest of the world (friends, family and you guys). The internet is an amazing thing when it comes to connecting us all despite the time difference and distances. It also allows me, while on this road trip, to do some much needed online research (e.g. Where is the next supermarket? Next camp site with hot showers? Is there a Farmer’s Market nearby? etc). It is once again a very useful technology. Therefore, given that having access to it is extremely unreliable and unpredictable, I do make the most of my time online whenever I do have access to it. So far, we have been lucky enough that the longest time we were completely off the grid was 3-4 days but I do know that once we cross the middle part of Australia (i.e. the desert), we might be without signal or internet for a good 5 days or more. And that is a okay with me too! In those moments, you rediscover the joys of other technologies like non-satellite radio, music on your mp3 (if charged), or a good book, talking or simply enjoying the landscapes passing you by. You find ways to stay busy and you appreciate your time away from social media, which can be full of time-consuming distractions too.

So these have been some of the things on my mind lately and the lessons I have drawn from this journey so far. I am sure other lessons will come along the way and I will try my best to write another post or two while on this trip. But as you already guessed it, having a good internet connection is a big and rare luxury while on the road. So, for now, my Instagram: @deliciouslyvibrant is where you can browse through some of my pictures of this road trip so far and where I do my best to keep you updated a bit more regularly.

Until the next post,

Stay healthy and vibrant and enjoy your Summer (for those of you living in the Northern Hemisphere of course).

Sarah.