Aussies sell everything, travel with just 9kg
A Melbourne couple have ditched Australia – selling everything to travel the world with nothing but just a 9kg backpack.
An Aussie couple quit their 9 to 5 job to travel the world, selling everything they own and hitting the skies with just 9kg on their backs.
Brittany Trovarelli and Mitchell Taylor, both 28, from Melbourne, originally planned on a six-month trip to South America backpacking in 2020.
But due to Covid the trip was put on hold. In that time it went from a six-month trip to one year after they added a bunch of extra places to their list.
“Mitch came home from work one day and just threw out an idea ‘why don’t we just pack up and travel indefinitely — until we get sick of it’,” Brittany told news.com.au.
And that’s exactly what they did, with the duo having visited their ninth country in five months.
The pair, who are currently in Europe, intend to travel until September 2025, with the next stop the United States before ending in Central/South America.
However, the ultimate question is how did they do it – from saving and budgeting, all while having a mortgage.
Admittedly, Brittany said it’s been no easy task, adding that they planned meticulously before deciding to quit their jobs.
Brittany worked in retail management, before starting her own cake business, ‘cakedmelbourne’ which is currently on hold, while Mitchell, a graphic designer, worked for an international video game company before calling it quits.
“Before we left I wrote a Google spreadsheet for the next year and filled in all our plans for the first six months,” Brittany explained.
“We had booked in the first month fully before we left and most of the Europe leg as we knew it would get more expensive the longer we left it.”
She said planning ultimately helped them save a fair bit of money along the way.
“We add to the spreadsheet whenever we book flights or accommodation so we don’t lose track of what we have and haven’t booked.”
She said as flights tend to get expensive, they try and book it a few months in advance and with accommodation they ensure it has free cancellation.
Brittany and Mitch, who met in high school and started dating when they were 18, also have a mortgage, but said it’s what enticed them to travel for longer.
“Initially, when it was six months we were going to rent our house for a year, then we thought well if we are going to the trouble of renting our house out we may as well make the most of it and travel as much as we can during that time,” Brittany said.
“We had been saving for this in the background since 2019. We both worked full time jobs and picked up extra hours on the side.
“We got a housemate for a year to help save a little more as well as moved back in with Mitch’s parents a few months before leaving to help save.
The pair also sold most of their belongings to go toward the trip.
“That also enticed us to extend it as much as we could as when we come back we will be moving into Mitch’s parents house until we are ready to reclaim our place.”
The pair have since found great success as travel content creators on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and hope that will help ease the financial burden along the way.
“We have recently ventured into YouTube which we are past halfway on getting our channel monetised so we are hoping this will be able to bring in some more income to support ourselves,” Brittany said.
To help with finances they’ve also set up online business and are working with hotels and brands to make some extra cash.
Budgeting
Brittany said their daily budget changes depending on the places they visit.
For example, they’ve currently set their budget to $100 a day while in Italy, but when they were in Asia, while it was $60 (for everything including food, accommodation, transport, activities), they quickly blew it in the first month.
“We soon realised we really had to pull back if we were going to keep to our plans.”
This includes things like alcohol, activities and eating out.
“I usually keep track of how much we spend each week so that we know if we are hitting these budgets or not, we can adjust our spending for the following weeks.
“We keep reminding ourselves we are travelling and not on ‘holidays’ so have to adjust that vacation mentality.”
Travelling with just 9kg
Brittany said one of the biggest challenges was having to travel light — very light, with just a 9kg backpack.
She said it helps save time and money especially when it comes to flights.
“We’ve made some difficult sacrifices on things we would normally like to bring like skincare products, a hair straightener – and decided to not bring a laptop as it adds so much weight.”
She said apart from missing Aussie food products like Vegemite, Bega peanut butter and Arnotts shapes, the other big one is their comfy bed.
However, she said it’s all been worth the “incredible” experience.
“The best part is getting to see so many amazing places around the world, experiencing local foods and meeting new people. We love that every day is different and exciting.”
The first country they visited was the Philippines before venturing throughout Asia and now Europe where they will stay for a few months.
“We are currently in Italy and heading to Greece next week,” Brittany said.
So far, their favourite country has been Turkiye.
“I’d actually been twice before but it was Mitch’s first time. We hit up some of the same spots I’d already visited but also lots of new ones and were just in awe at this country,” she said.
Brittany said while it’s involved meticulous planning and saving, “it’s been the best decision we made”.
“We’ve been so happy, grateful and fulfilled since being away and hopefully our journey can inspire others to set their own journey. Everyone has this idea of we need to work full-time at home and can only take a few weeks off a year.
“But there are absolutely other options. It is a bit scary at first but the excitement and rewards outweighs that.”
Brittany and Mitch also got engaged in Tuscany over the weekend, adding to their magical experience abroad.
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