touring in a tin can

We've got the travel bug. It's contagious and never really goes away. Sometimes it's exhausting, but before long you're hankering for more. We've spent many hours in airports, on trains, driving down country back roads, negotiating directions in a motor home unable to speak the language, back-packing and camping.

Our bikes, hiking boots and rock climbing gear have been dragged around the globe, sometimes at great inconvenience. But the things we've seen - ordinary holidays aren't really us.

Our six month Australian adventure was more than three years in the making. We'd be staring into a red wine when I'd casually mention the possibility of a long road trip . Or sipping a coffee huddled in front of the fire, watching the bleak Adelaide Hills winter weather, longing for a top-end dry season instead.

Drew and I both wanted to go, but there were a few things we needed to think about first. Money, the kids'ages and schooling were enough to put anyone off. Luckily we had long service leave looming, the ability to take unpaid leave and a supportive school principal. Finally we circled April 2018 on the calendar.

Three years gave us plenty of time to plan, but the reality was that most of the work and purchases were done in the last 12 months.

The dream finally seemed real once we signed a contract at the Caravan and Camping Show for a new off road van. That was a surprise because it wasn't our intention to buy a new van.

The caravan arrived in June 2017, giving Drew nine months for some re-engineering so that we could legally tow it with our Pajero. He re-designed and fitted extras as only an engineer can, but boy did the work pay off.

Our trip took us through Western Australia, up the coast to Darwin and back down through the Red Center. Often we didn't know where we were headed. We discovered wikicamps, stationshoppers, fuelmap australia, trailforks and lots of other apps to help us plan our journey.

I pulled together a blog site which I called touring in a tin can to faithfully record our journey. I battled with poor internet reception for many nights and often felt frustrated with the amount of time it sucked up. Those posts are now incorporated into this site and I hope you will enjoy them.

We were exhausted by the time we arrived home and needed a rest, but before long we were talking about the next big journey. Our children are as excited about adventure and unknown possibilities as we are.

We are ready for more.