Walbok Walkabout: 2017-November-11 Australia, NSW, Galston: How Can We Travel Like We Do?

This is a question we have been asked over and over again over the past months. Here is our brief answer:

· We do not have pets or kids 😊 but this is not necessarily a show stopper

· We decided what we wanted to do (as a couple and as individuals) and then put a plan in place 5 years ago to achieve it. Largely this meant save, save, save. In our everyday life we cut back on luxuries such as coffees and lunches out, restaurant meals, colouring Jean's hair, new clothes (unless absolutely necessary) etc

· We stayed focussed i.e. once we had a plan we tracked progress each and every month

· We have been lucky enough to have decent paying jobs for quite some time

· We paid as much off on our mortgage each month as possible

· We rented our house out for 3 years while we have been travelling and contract working

· We decluttered the house with stuff we did not need. This made a little bit of spare cash towards the travel fund and reduced storage costs

· We sold our car and scooters (too much cost to store)

· We were very clear on our approach to travel which is about catching up with friends, seeing new places and experiencing different things / cultures. This means that we do not spend much money on site-seeing, entry fees, going out to restaurants and the like

· We travel as cheaply as possible even if that means uncomfortable seats in planes, waiting around at airports, not flying direct, sharing sleeper compartments in trains. The only thing we will not compromise is safety. (P.S. We are both looking forward to a time when we spend a bit more money on travel!)

· We try to find a way of travel that means we do not pay for accommodation: - House/ Pet Sitting, Couchsurfing and WorkAway

We must admit we spent more on Walkbok Walkabout Phase 2 than the first trip. This has largely been about trying to see friends and family, even if it means increased travel costs – we may not get back to Europe for a while.

We can’t sustain this extended travelling forever but, while it’s been possible, we have taken full advantage. We will go back to our ~~old life~~ new life with many wonderful memories, photographs, renewed and new friendships.

As we write this blog, one of our CouchSurfing hosts from USA (2015) has posted his own blog about how to travel.

We thought we would share Tim’s blog as he has a great list of tips:

http://tflanagan.us/yearabroad/2017/11/09/take-year-off-live-dreams/

Currently we are back in Sydney and doing house sits until we find work and become ‘responsible adults’ again.

The excitement at our house sit today was the arrival of a new foal from the mare, Bindi, in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully she managed all on her own and we did not have to get involved or phone the owner in a panic!