I wish I could do what you are doing

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Three years ago when my husband and I discussed travelling around Australia, it seemed like a pipe dream. A way to break the hampster wheel and get out of the repetitive day to day of life. And let’s be honest, having kids locks you into a mundane cycle of meeting their every need and whim. Who could foretell that my husband would sell his business in a tough climate, that I would get a sum of cash due to some employee shares. This trip around Australia started to get real. So there is some luck, time and focus involved, but that’s like anything in life.

Three years on…we are about to start this new chapter of nomadic living I’m having a think about the thought process that got us to this point. Some people have called it brave, others wish they could do the same. For me it required a change in perspective. 

I’ve worked hard since I was old enough to work with the longest break being 4 months maternity for each kid and you can hardly call that a break. I’ve done well in my career, I could have gone further…imagine where I could be at 65 when I retire. Today I view my career as well as my life in blocks of time instead of one continuous path. Isn’t that how we work on projects to make them achievable? Call it my Life Project.  

Back to perspective..we get locked into the rat race, work hard, buy property, have a ‘nest egg’ for retirement and then go and travel. That’s nice but this can’t be the only way. Having kids really pushed that view further. What example do we want to set for them? Also having a chronic illness that isn’t helped by stress is a great accelerator. So I’ve abandoned that notion – not fully but enough to make this happen. 

Sabbaticals have been around for centuries and designed to achieve a goal outside of work, its meant to be every seven years, so I should have taken three by now. Technically I’m not doing that. I have no work to come back to. Gone deep into the unknown for me, I mean despite not having income coming in, what if I’m really crap at the nomadic life cooped up in a 19ft caravan with two ‘spirited’ kids and a ‘spirited’ husband, yet it smells like freedom…and a bit of teen spirit.

Wish us luck. More to come…
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Published by Sharonika Camplin

Hi there! We've recently completed an almost two year trip around Australia in a truck and caravan with my husband and two kids. After 20 years of hard work building a corporate career, I gave it up to spend time with the family and share new experiences and build memories to last a lifetime. Hopefully my story can help give some perspective and courage to others to do the same. Enjoy!

7 thoughts on “I wish I could do what you are doing”

      1. Ummm, I write a post, leave it overnight or two nights, then edit once before posting. Don’t know what others do, but that tends to work for me. Give ideas time to develop a little before sharing x

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      2. Also! Another thought… try writing by hand before transferring it to computer. Your writing process may shift. I write splurges by hand, for the flow, then add it to computer and then edit. An idea… x

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