Young Aussie families swapping homes for living in caravans on the open road
Caravan life is no longer the domain of retirees and tourists, as more young Aussie families hit the road in growing numbers.
NSW
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Tom Urech-Wright was like so many of us. Tired, overworked and longing for a holiday. Now his life — and that of his young family — is one.
“When I think back to our life in Melbourne, no matter how much money I earned, we didn’t seem to be going anywhere,” he says.
“You just want the bigger house, bigger car, bigger everything – and we were still drowning.
“It was all work, work, work.
“I was leaving home at dark, getting home at dark, shouting at the kids to eat their dinner and go to bed, and weekends were all sport.
“Now I can’t imagine us ever doing that routine and lifestyle again – travelling has just changed who we are.”
Urech-Wright, his wife Aimee and their four young sons sold everything before moving into their caravan and joining the growing ranks of Australians swapping home for the open road.
While the familiar grey nomad is still leading the charge, the family belongs to a rapidly growing younger demographic nipping at their heels.
The number of registered caravans on the road currently sits at more than 750,000 — a figure that has grown 64.9 per cent in the 10 years since 2010, in an industry that contributes $23 billion annually to the Australian economy.
According to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia, parents with their youngest child still at home are the largest lifestyle segment for caravanning and camping in 2020, accounting for 35 per cent of caravan and camping trips.
The association’s Real Richness survey showed 97 per cent of campers believed caravan and camping trips allowed children to learn about the environment, 94 per cent believed it taught children to engage socially and 93 per cent said it brought families closer together.
Gemma and Reece Sliwinski have hauled their caravan and two young kids around the country for the last three years — because, as Gemma says, why work to pay childcare and chip away at a mortgage while waiting for a retirement that may never come?
“After losing close family members too soon, we realised you don’t necessarily make it to retirement,” Gemma, 36, tells Saturday Extra from somewhere near the Cape York Peninsula.
Gemma says travelling while they were young and able — and the kids actually wanted to spend time with them — was an appealing part of being on the road.
“Quality time together and growing a strong family bond, as well as the freedom and flexibility of choosing where to be and for how long, is pretty special,” she says.
“As is not being caught up in the 9-5 rush of the working week and not needing to work full-time and pay for childcare.”
Being together 24/7, while another a highlight, was also one of the biggest challenges.
“It sounds like a contradiction but it’s important for us to take the kids to the park and let the other adult have some time out,” she says.
“We alternate having some time to ourselves to go for a walk or do some exercise – living on the road generally means being away from family and close friends so not often do we have babysitters or a date night but once the kids are asleep we get to have some adult time together.”
The Sliwinskis are part of the growing trend of young families fleeing sky-high city house prices, or renting their homes out for record prices while driving around the country.
They sold their Tasmanian home and most of their belongings for a life on the road and have no plans of heading home – wherever that may be.
Reece, a plumber by trade, picks up work whenever they need to top up funds. The most he’s worked in the past three years equates to about six months in total — the longest sting being four months, and the shortest one week. They’ve already lapped the country and are now zigzagging, exploring destinations they haven’t previously seen.
Gemma says there have been a lot more caravans on the road since the advent of Covid. And caravan makers and retailers report new vans have a wait list and second hand ones are selling like hot cakes.
With overseas travel off the cards, recent insights from Tourism Research Australia show caravan and camping is the most popular holiday accommodation type for Australians, accounting for 44 per cent of all holiday nights across Australia.
According to recent figures, sales of caravans were up by 242.9 per cent in December last year, and 66.5 per cent of Aussies surveyed by Caravan Camping Sales, planned to hit the road with one.
WE’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE
Tom and Aimee Urech-Wright and their sons aged 12, 9, 8 and 5, sold their house in the northern Melbourne suburb of Doreen and have been on the road since 2018. They’ve come back a few times over the years, but life on the road draws them back soon enough.
“We’ve pretty much covered everywhere in Australia and still feel we haven’t seen most of it,” Tom says from Broome, as the family prepares to take on the Gibb River Rd through the Kimberleys.
“When we first started travelling there were hardly any young families like us – now it is incredible how many there are – it’s absolutely skyrocketed.
“Since Covid, a lot of people are re-evaluating their lives and so many people have thrown it in and hit the road.
“It’s an amazing lifestyle — it’s not for everyone, but if you open yourself up to it, it’s something you will never forget.”
A 42-year-old fitter-and-turner, Urech-Wright fondly remembers travelling the country with his parents for six months as an 11-year-old, and wanted the same for his sons.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make — it was extremely stressful and there were tears and tantrums and moments we thought we couldn’t do it, but as soon as we hit the road those tears and fights evaporated completely and the sense of freedom was incredible.”
The couple, who document their travels as @4boysandacaravan, homeschool the kids based on their day-to-day adventures, he says.
“So if we climb a volcano we will learn about volcanoes, and build a volcano,” he says.
“We use everyday experiences to teach them, and it’s normal for them now.
“They make friends every single place they go – they don’t meet kids forced into a classroom so they got out of their comfort zone and now they just find kids to play with.”
Keelan Howard from the Caravan Industry Association of Australia says 92 per cent of caravanning and camping takes place in regional Australia, making it a lifeline for local communities.
There had been a renewed desire to find reconnection following the pandemic, and travellers were increasingly turning to holidays that provided a sense of familiarity and comfort, whether that be close to home or reliving childhood memories and sharing that with their family, he says.
“Families are hitting the road in greater numbers as they realise that time is precious, a feeling further enhanced by the challenges of Covid,” he says.
“Camping provides the platform to establish meaningful connections while creating invaluable memories that are cherished for a lifetime.”
SHARING THE ROAD
Despite its increasing popularity, purchasing and maintaining a caravan can still be an expensive exercise and according to Roni Ormandlaki, Founder of The Caravan Partnership.
On average, despite all best intentions, when a caravan is purchased it is used on average for only six weeks of the year, he says.
The Caravan Partnership was born out of the desire to make caravanning accessible to everyone, no matter their budgets, time constraints or lifestyle and offers shares for as little as 10 per cent, with an online booking system giving families access for 35 days of the year.
“I thought, why not apply the very popular and proven concept of boat share to the caravanning industry,” he says.
“By having the option to buy into a share of a caravan it would allow even more Australians to gain access to this wonderful way to experience Australia, without the expense and hassle of buying and being responsible a caravan outright.”
NEXT BIG ADVENTURE
Camden’s Rebecca and Lloyd Pollard spent six and a half weeks travelling Australia when their kids were aged four and two, in 2017.
They’re back to ‘normal life’ now, but still take the caravan away as often as they can, and hope to embark on a similar big adventure before the children, now eight and six, finish school.
“What we learned is you can think of it as a very idealistic way and travelling to some amazing places, but with a four and two year old, it’s taking your life at home and all the challenges and routines and popping them into a caravan,” Rebecca says.
“It’s hard work, but as hard work as it could be at home, so you may as well be doing it on the Great Barrier Reef.
“My daughter still remembers in detail all the places we went, and they always ask when we are going again.
“We would do it again in a heartbeat.”
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