In early 2020 we were both somewhat frazzled and disenchanted with things in general, likely even approaching burn-out. We took the opportunity of a road-trip to Melbourne to re-evaluate where we were and what we wanted to do moving forward.
We covered off lots of options, but the one that resonated with us both was to plan towards travelling Australia for an extended period—say five to ten years!
Working backwards from this goal gave us a bit of a high-level plan, including such steps as:
- both of us retiring, although not necessarily at exactly the same time;
- buying a suitable caravan;
- both of the above then in turn led to selling the house;
- going out there…
We didn’t count on the impact of COVID and the consequent delays in pretty much every step, but hindsight tells us that we genuinely needed the extra time (no matter how much it may have chafed at the time).
Retirement
Neither of us were enjoying our work to the extent that we previously had, so the decision to retire was quite a straightforward one. Financially, we could afford Reen retiring sooner, so she finished up in May 2021. However, Dean needed to keep working to pay the mortgage, so he finishes up in October 2022.
Selling the Granville home
When we stopped and took an objective look at our home of some 33+ years, we had to admit that it wasn’t up to scratch in terms of being ready to sell. PLUS, we had 40+ years of accumulated “treasures” that we couldn’t really see fitting into the overall vision.
We were blessed with the direction, support and work of long-term friend Dave until his untimely passing. Even with this and ongoing assistance from friends and family, cleaning out was an horrendously stressful experience. We’d never really though of ourselves as “hoarders” but we certainly had more stuff than we needed and definitely found it very hard to throw things away (or sell them or give them away or…)
The house finally sold in June 2022, and we trust that the new owners will be be as happy there as we were.
Caravan
This subject will get it’s own post, but for here we should note that we went around and around with options multiple times before settling on the 5th-wheeler style of van. We’d never been keen on traditional caravans, considering them unwieldy and unnecessarily complicated.
A large motorhome seemed a good option, but how do you get around from wherever you’re parked? Additionally, to get the space we believed we needed took this option up to a Class MR driver’s licence, and Dean’s eyes had degenerated to the point that he had relinquished his (since resolved by cataract surgery 🙂 ). Further, Reen *did not* want to get a truck licence, which would have left us potentially quite unsafe in an extended travel scenario.
So, 5th wheeler it is…