12 truths about life on the road

Planning, Vanlife

From kitchen-sink bird baths to epic outback tracks, life is nothing like it used to be—every turn brings beauty, adventure, and the occasional mishap!

Dust, freedom & adventure

When your average morning starts with cooking toast in a fry-pan, a bird bath at the sink and opening the curtains to reveal endless rugged country, you know life’s pretty different.

We’ve been on the road for almost two years as vanwives, covering more than 40,000km and visiting well over 200 towns and wild places.

Our reality today is worlds away from our comfortable and pretty rhythmic suburban existence. We thrive on the randomness of vanlife, relish the beauty we encounter daily and take the mess, dust – and occasional flat battery and blown tyre – in our stride.

We still have the travel bug, and so the adventure continues…no time limits, no plans, just us and our van!

Here’s 12 realities from life on the road (the good, not-so-grand and plain random!).

1. Showers and washing are irregular and a bit random

Bird baths at the sink are our go to, unless we’re staying at a caravan park, or have the space, time and water supply to set up our shower tent and external shower (a rare event). Every now and then, we also use beach and swimming pool showers. Our record for going without a “proper” shower? Two weeks. Clothes follow a similar rhythm, usually piling up for a weekly wash at a caravan park, or, if we’re desperate, a good old-fashioned hand wash in the esky.

2. We get a front-row seat to some ripper sunsets

There’s nothing that lights up our souls more, and reminds us just how special our life is, when the sun puts on an absolute show and lights up the mountains, plains or waterways that surround us.

3. Hair cuts and makeup are practically non-existent

In our old lives, makeup was worn practically daily—our war paint for work and social life—and haircuts were clockwork every six weeks (short crops don’t wait). But vanlife changed all that overnight. These days, foundation makes a rare appearance, maybe once every couple of months for a date night or if we stumble into a city. Haircuts? We’ve had a grand total of five between us in the past 22 months (including two home jobs!). Caps and beanies have become our staples.

4. Flies and bugs can be soul-destroying (so come prepared!)

We did a whirlwind six-month lap in 2019 and quickly discovered one of our fiercest outback challenges, flies. This time, we came prepared, with fly nets and a mesh-walled gazebo in tow. North of Geraldton (season depending), flies can be downright insane, so we don’t leave our van without a fly net. We’ve even been known to sip wine through one at happy hour! And we always have a big can of fly spray at hand. We’ve also had a couple of fierce run-ins with kangaroo ticks and swarms of little black bugs!

5. We talk 'PSI' and 'Amps’ on the daily (out of necessity)

An air compressor and tyre deflator are hauled out of the Hilux often as we tackle beaches, sand dunes, waterways, and rutted rocky tracks. We’ve only been bogged once (in our first week), so we reckon that’s not too bad. Running everything off 12v has meant getting familiar with volts, amps, and the ins and outs of a multimeter, MPPT solar controller, and battery shunt. We also carry solder, a blow torch, and wiring so we can whip up leads on the go and fix problems as they crop up—like busted 9-pin plugs or fried Andersons.

6. Sharing 3sqm is tight but doable (especially with the outdoors as our yard)

Family and friends often say they couldn’t imagine living in such a small space, but for us it’s been easy. We naturally weave around each other as we juggle chores and daily routines, and the bonus is we can sweep and “mop” the floors in just two minutes! When the weather’s warm, we spend most of our time outside, only retreating to the van if it’s super windy, the bugs are out, or we’re parked up in a car park or on the roadside.

7. The occasional break from the van? Absolute gold

In our first nine months on the road, we spent three nights out of the van—once in a bed and breakfast to celebrate our anniversary, and another in a beachfront eco-tent (the offer was just too good to pass up). We’ve also done a handful of housesits, which give us the rare chance to be still, enjoy the comforts of four solid walls and get off the road at peak times, like Christmas. It’s always a rejuvenating reset.

8. Animal encounters are frequent (and can be unexpected)

From emus at the caravan door and kangaroos lounging on beaches to freshwater crocodiles mere metres away, wildlife is never far. We’ve spotted donkeys wandering down country roads, brumbies on the plains, a lone bull strolling the main street, rock wallabies tucked into gorges, cows being herded on the road ahead, platypus drifting downstream, families of koalas dozing in trees, the odd snake while hiking, bats soaring between trees, and a plethora of birds from owls to eagles.

9. It's all about embracing the randomness and new experiences

From tackling a section of the gnarly Telegraph Track to a brief and unplanned stint as station hands on the Dampier, our attitude to vanlife has been “Say yes”, and worry about the details later. We love that no two days ever look the same— the more random, the better. At the end of the day, it all makes for a cracking yarn.

10. Public pools (and any body of water for that matter) are lifesavers in the heat

We’ve sweated through a handful of 40-plus degree days in the van, mostly in outback Western Australia. At night, a 12-volt fan feels like it’s worth its weight in gold, and by day the town pool becomes an absolute sanctuary from the heat.

1. Having a rooftop tent has allowed us to get to some wild places

We’ve left our van in storage (we use that term loosely) a handful of times, stripping our rig back to just the 4WD – complete with fridge, second battery and rooftop tent – to reach some pretty far-flung spots. We’ve loved having both options. Plus, the rooftop tent doubles as a handy guest bedroom when family and friends come to visit.

12. Unsealed roads (and water crossings) are way more fun

There’s nothing more exhilarating than putting our Hilux (and ourselves) to the test on gnarly tracks in the middle of nowhere and plowing through water crossings (when it’s safe) sending spray flying into the sky. It’s what adventure is all about! A year on, we’re still trying to get the red dust from the Gibb out of the van—but we wouldn’t have it any other way.