Week 7 on the road

2 years ago our family decided we wanted to fit out a van for off grid “roadschooling”. Finally after finding the perfect van and the long delays of lockdowns and isolations of several of the people involved in our fit out, we are on the road! Being 7 weeks in, I felt it a great time to jot some memories down.

We have continued on with some of the customisations of the van while on the road and have been meeting all sorts of interesting people from all walks of life. The girls have been swimming and snorkelling, playing chess, tight rope walking, tree climbing, fishing, scooting, (our eldest, 7) reading chapter books and our littlest learning her favourite books word for word by memory.

We have been immersed in wild life, bird watching, surrounded by Kangaroos and giant Goannas, huge bugs and watching the girls become so comfortable and accustomed to it all. We have been happily switched off and completely unplugged for most of that time. Rest has been enjoyed with Duplo, drawing and chalk art for the most part with an occasional movie or show.

Food wise, we have been living off a lot of fruit, salad, BBQ or rice cooker and skillet meat and veg or rice meals and the odd take away or dine in. It’s been getting up and going to bed with the sun, which is again pretty much our usual habit wherever we are.

We started out on the west coast of Victoria where we discovered wild winds and arctic sea temperatures (even being Summer). This is where we took the girls on their first canoe ride bird watching all the new duckling families on the beautiful waters of Warrnambool.

After a short time wearing woolies in the southwestern Summer wind, we decided to set off to our favourite places in the world on the NSW coastline where the climate is perfect just about all year round!

The world is a strange place right now and Victoria being the way it is… we couldn’t be happier to begin our dream of road “schooling” for as long as it is possible. While there are certain places we know we won’t be going (WA), the east coast has our name written all over it.

Driving here and staying in different areas, we are discovering new and beautiful parts of this amazing land. It’s something we know our children will cherish forever! As someone who has travelled the world, I know the lasting impression that adventures can have. It’s something I’m very grateful to be able to share with my family now!

As the country goes back to school and our eldest begins another year of “home” “school”… we feel blessed to be exploring our great land together instead of having our children being “told about (a predetermined snippet of) it” from within four little walls. So far, we have been to an Indigenous Art Gallery and spent Day 26 immersed in Native Indigenous culture and stories, which is something our big girl loves.

Now we see in the Lunar new year in a beautiful new mountainous coastal location and welcome the Water Tiger in a few more days with the Solar (Chinese) New Year. As a Chinese & Western Astrologer, I am extremely excited about this as it’s a year I’ve been eagerly waiting for, especially after the Metal Ox of 2021!

There’s so much more we are excited to be able to explore in our van! This freedom is exactly why we had our van fitted out to be off grid to live in. We have designed more upcoming customisations due to be built and installed in the coming weeks. It’s an exciting time of life and we can’t wait to document it all. Stay tuned!

Love & Gratitude LJ x