Man chronicles his travels around Australia in a van with his pet cat
Former IT worker Richard East gave up everything to travel around Australia in a van with just his cat Willow for company — and they have no plans to come home any time soon.
Richard East had a great job, his own house and a girlfriend — so why did he give it all up to travel around Australia in a custom VW van with only his cat to keep him company?
An urge for adventure, to break away from the herd and take control of his life are the reasons he gives.
Either way, the 34-year-old former IT worker from Hobart and his cat Willow have called the highways, beaches, forests, mangroves and the Outback of Australia home for the past three and a half years.
And they have no plans to come home any time soon.
“I had ticked all the boxes, I had a house, a girlfriend, a job in IT, but none of it was making me happy,” East tells BW Magazine from his temporary home somewhere on the Sunshine Coast.
“As people we sort of have an idea of what makes us happy in life but we don’t always pursue it. Having a job, a house and friends nearby is secure but to throw that all away was kind of exciting.”
East and his girlfriend Gabrielle broke up and that started a chain of events — he quit the job he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with and put his house on the market.
Next, he took a T5 Volkswagen Transporter and converted it into a mobile home of sorts, complete with bed, kitchenette, cupboards, drawers, a table, solar panels on the roof and a generator.
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As he spent weekends working on the van, Willow would keep a close watch, taking a curious interest and exploring the hidey holes. And before they took to the open road, East and Willow went on a few test runs up the east coast of Tasmania.
East had a vague plan to make it around Australia, following the seasons to chase the best weather, but after that had no idea what would happen — and he says he still doesn’t.
“People would ask me all the time how long I was going for and the truth was I didn’t know,” East says.
“Gabrielle and I got Willow from a rescue shelter about two years before I left and initially I thought I’d get someone to look after her while I was gone. But as the time approached, I couldn’t leave her.
“As a travelling companion, cats are great, and she was used to the van from when I was working on it and the test runs.
“But I learnt on the road that there are places you can’t go with a cat, mainly national parks, but there are millions of other places you can take a cat.
“Just in case, Willow wears two trackers on her collar which can accurately keep tabs on her for up to three kilometres. And she doesn’t stray, which is good, I can pull up anywhere, open the door and let her out. She usually sits under the van, it’s her safety zone.”
With just a general plan to chase the seasons around the country, East is relaxed about where he’ll go next and how long he’ll stay in any place. But one thing is certain, he has a new appreciation for our beautiful country and the people he has met along the way.
He counts the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia as one of the most beautiful places he’s visited, along with the beaches in Western Australia.
But it’s not all beautiful sunsets and gorgeous weather. The unlikely pair have found themselves in a few sticky situations, mostly of their own doing.
There was the time East was learning to surf near Coffs Harbour, was dumped and got a fin to the back of his head. With blood dripping between his fingers as he held his wound together, he drove himself to emergency and ended up with a few stitches.
Then there was the time he got caught in rising waters in a mangrove area near Port Pirie in South Australia.
“I always forget to check the tides and we were parked at a little campsite,” he recalls.
“We had been there two weeks prior and had no problems. But on this morning, I opened the van door, Willow jumps out and I hear a splash. I got out and I was wading in water just past my ankles and the tide was coming in.
“Then it was a foot deep and I didn’t know how much further the water would rise, so I had to try to move the van.
“I turned it on and rolled forward, then I tried to reverse but the wheels started to spin so I realised I could only go forward. Eventually the tyres found ruts in the road and we were carried along like a log on a flume.”
Despite the odd setbacks, East and Willow can’t imagine a different life — but it does require some financial planning.
When East sold his Hobart home he had a bit of equity, which he invested to provide a bit of an income while on the road.
But he figured he would need more and ultimately realised he would have to work about three months of the year to keep him going.
However, he found many ways to make money on his travels. He creates miniature boxes, the size of a thumbnail, out of all natural wood and, a budding photographer, he uses his prints to make calendars, photo magnets, tees, tote bags and will even send you a personalised postcard, all through his website vancatmeow.com.
His newest endeavour is a book outlining his journey called Van Cat Meow, which is published through ABC Books.
He even manages to donate to motor neurone disease care and research.
He says he doesn’t get bored on the road, in fact he marvels at how quickly the days go by. He has been back to Tassie a few times to “visit” and his parents have come out to spend time with him on the road.
“I have no plans to leave the road,” East says.
“This life is so much more rewarding than the one I had before. I feel so much more a part of the world now. There’s that expression about being lonely in a crowd, that’s how I felt before.
“I’m at the stage now though that I have done the lap around Australia and have to think about what I want to achieve. I have a rough plan which involves not where I’ll go, but how.”
* Van Cat Meow, $24.99, ABC Books, out Monday
Originally published as Man chronicles his travels around Australia in a van with his pet cat