Backpacker Life: The Call of the Road in Australia
Pavement, dirt, dust, pot holes, unknown barriers, music, sunsets – to me there has always been something so inviting about a road trip. Having driven over 50,000 kms /31,068 mles around Australia, I’d stake a claim it is one of the best countries in the world to take a road trip and have a backpacker life. The continent is so big, comparable to the size of the United States, and offers the excitement of remoteness, animals that can kill you and a need to stock up with supplies for weeks fostering the spirit of the road to be so strong and alive.
For anyone looking for the ultimate road trip, I invite you to have a look at a small piece of ours.
Welcome to the call of the road.
Sometimes the only place to sleep was in a ditch.
We drove approx 400 kms/ 250 miles of back roads to Millstream Chichester National Park. It took us a day and a half to make the journey. We had one other traveller pass us, at a much faster pace as well as mining vehicles. With the old van on the washboard road we kept it to about 30 km per hour/ 18.6 mi per hour as we had to continually tighten the screws all over the van.
Some remark that they are uncomfortable with the outback, “There is nothing there. Too remote for me. It’s flat for as long as the eye can see. Who would want to go there?”
I see the wide open spaces full of a special beauty and colour that tell a story, inviting me to dance among them.
Driving to Python Pool in Millstream Chichester National Park.
Cooking up dinner and look at all the luxuries – a chair and table, stove in the back of the van that neither of us had to bend over and tons of room to store food and water. There was a warm spring nearby to wash all the dust off and life was good.
To me there has always been something about red earth beneath my feet that pulses an energy through my body.
Who are all those people parked out by the light house? Backpackers. We never knew where we’d find a home for the night. Every municipality handled travellers slightly different, but one thing was fact: there were people (both Aussies and visitors) travelling all over the country in vehicles and a lot of people were not going to pay for camping each and every single night. This was one of the attributes for many a backpacker life.
We got this photo taking a ferry out to Rottnest Island.
Neatly parked by this light house near the city of Perth was where a lot of back packers and travellers slept the night. Some towns had an official spot for people to free camp whereas other towns heavily patrolled with rangers to ensure no one was free camping. It all depended on the township and we went with the flow. After a year and a half we ended up sleeping in a lot of random places. Our parents favorite was when we’d call them early in the morning as we were just waking up and remark how we slept down by the river, under a bridge, again.
A typical night’s sleeping spot.
We slept on the side of the road a lot.
Then we’d drive to some bathroom which was usually marked on the maps we’d pick up along the way. All in all, most of the bath rooms were usuable and it was such an annoyance when someone deliberately left them messy. Having functional and clean bathrooms is one of the biggest general health concerns for both locals and visitors. Australia does deserve credit for providing a lot of well maintained public bathrooms.
Look at all the scones! Chris was so excited for brekki this morning as we got all these scones reduced from a bakery the day before.
Some days were a little rough in the van. We loved the way our van was set up, however, occasionally we would have to get an item out of the way back which required lifting the biggest and heaviest board. So many times Chris would hear me yelling as I pinched my fingers or grunted trying to lift the heaviest board as it crushed me. I’d lose my leverage point getting myself stuck under the weight of the board and eventually Chris would stop laughing at my kicking my feet and come and set me free.
Other times I would be all wrapped up while cleaning the van.
Chris would say less play and more organizing so we could go explore. In my defense I think I did a pretty good job keeping focused when cleaning the van.
We celebrated Chris thirtieth birthday in Alice Springs which is the big town in the middle of Australia. That old van, our home on wheels, gave us many celebrations and memories during our time down under.
As Jack Kerouac said,
“Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.”
Life on the road has a beat all it’s own. Whenever I go back to living in a house I stop finding the people living out of their cars. I know they are out there. And someday I’ll return to backpacker life and be out there again too.
Need a little more planning?
The gear listed in this post is the same exact gear we use to travel the world or our back yard.
These same booking resources are the same exact ones we use to find deals and acquire points for more travel.
I will never recommend to get a credit card unless you are 100% solid to pay it off in full every month. If you will and are going to be making some big purchases, this Chase card is the same exact card we use and it offers great travel points and perks.
Finally, if you have not used AirBnB before, use this special link to sign up and get $40 off your first booking.
These same booking resources are the same exact ones we use to find deals and acquire points for more travel.
I will never recommend to get a credit card unless you are 100% solid to pay it off in full every month. If you will and are going to be making some big purchases, this Chase card is the same exact card we use and it offers great travel points and perks.
Finally, if you have not used AirBnB before, use this special link to sign up and get $40 off your first booking.
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Loved your concept of home…and it is the way you interpret love for those near and dear to you. Even cleaning your space and keeping things orderly is a message to the world.
Indeed how we present ourself is a message to the world. Well put. Thanks!
Sounds like it was a WONDERFUL trip and I am sure that it was worth any problems that arose.
Problems are only part of the journey, we were met with some and they proved to bring us to meeting really inspiring people.
Holy Mackerel! 31 thousand miles and a year and a half might be considered a little more than just a little road trip! Good going!
Australia is big. Can’t tell you the number of times visitors (at times including ourselves) would look at a map and think, “Oh the distance looks so small on the map, I can get from point A to B fairly quickly.” Nope. It will take a while and it is a wonderfully slower pace.
home is where the heart is. what great experiences you have had taking your heart and home all over the world.
Thanks. We think it’s important and something we can all do in our own way.