Little Campervan Throwback
If Facebook is good for anything then its probably its reminder function. Yesterday I got reminded about a very special day 9 years ago. It was our first trip to Australia. We were on a Backpacking Trip through Asia and suddenly thought a 3 months trip to Australia would be awesome. Arrived in Sydney, bought a hop on hop off ticket for the Greyhound and after one stop we realised that this is not the way to travel here.
While staying at an airbnb in Port Macquarie we spontaneously decided to buy a small van. Believe it or not, we simply bought the first one we gad a look at.
No, that hing does not only look that small it indeed was that small. It was A Ford Econovan from 1993 or 1995 not 100% sure anymore but what I still remember is that it had no power steering and absolutely no power at all. It also did not had an aircon...but yet it was the best decision we had as from this day on not only the travelling was more fun, we also fell in love with camping and with Australia.
That van was so small that we had to cut off one edge of the bed to fit it in completely. Imagine cutting off the edge of a 137cm wide mattress you sleep on together for 3 months. It was not really comfortable but I will never forget that time.
As said, these moments made us fell in love with Australia and camping. So a few years later we upgraded it a little bit with a Mitsubishi that we´ve bought in Perth. That one was a bit bigger and comfortable had more power and power steering but lots of mechanical issues.
We lived in that thing for 15 months on and off. In between there were some housesits, a trip to Bali and a few other interruptions. During these 15 months we even did some modification on the aerodynamic, did´t help much but looked super cool. :)
But why do I tell you this? Not only because I was reminded about it by facebook but also because of the reason that after a 3 year break thanks to covid we´re finally going back to Australia.
We tried to settle in Portugal twice now but came to the final decision that it is not where we want to live...at least not now. So next year in march we we leave Portugal behind and fly to Thailand where we will spend a few weeks before we´re flying to Brisbane Australia.
In total we´ve been to Australia about 7 times, I can´t even remember exactly. Every time we´ve been there we bought our own car and so we will this time. Right now we´re just not sure if it is going to be a van again or maybe a 4x4 with a Rooftop Tent. Luckily we still got enough time to fell that decision.
I can´t wait to be there again, explore regions we haven´t seen before, surf waves I haven´t surfed and enjoy life to the fullest.
Never forget: where there's a will there's a way
thank you @ackhoo
So great to see this part of your travels. How cool is it to just get a van, change it and travel further… what a trip! Just epic.
Thanks for sharing 👋🏻😊
Have an awesome new week @betterthanhome
Probably the most important part of our travels. Most fun part was with the second van. Hope next visit will be awesome as well
That’s so cool to hear…
Hope it will be 😊🤩😎
Have a great Monday!
No way, 9 years ago??? The pics are 9 years old? Wowowow, and you both traveled all time together. Thats sooooooo cute and amazing.
haha yes they are. We´ve been home 2-3 times for a bit longer but technically we´ve been travelling for the last 9 years. Also had jobs in germany in the meantime but never really settled there again.
Wowow, thats just amaziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Full respect. I didn knooow that, lovely story, a story to tell your kids when you are old :)))) Like "How I met your mother" :)))) Hugs to ya both.
well, 99% sure there won´t be kids...but maybe I tell it the kids in the skatepark when I´m old. ;)
will be in lisbon in january hopefully...will let you know.
Living in that van for 15 months? Wow. That is more than one year. You saved a lot of rent price. But seeing your travels, and that every time you visited Australia you bought your own car, you probably have not had to pay rent since a long time. Or maybe at all.
Looks awesome, man. Love seeing builds like this.
I'm 6ft and I know I'd be hitting the wall trying to sleep in something that short.
Ended up putting Vanspeed capsules on my Sprinter just to get a bit more space - total game changer for taller folks.
You can have a really nice setup in a minivan, especially if you don’t need anything fancy.
Posted by Waivio guest: @waivio_madrox