Day 39 - BIG DAY DRIVING
10 hours. 685km. Took a massive chunk out of our drive today. Another day like this tomorrow and we will be on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday early afternoon. I can already feel the sand between my toes. See you tomorrow. Adam day39 ...
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Day 37
Tomorrow it begins. The trek to our new home - we start the 2,000km journey from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast in search for a home after 18 months on the road living in our caravan. I'm feeling a lot of things. But I am mostly feeling excited. Really excited to start this next phase of our life. See you tomorrow. Adam day37 ...
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Day 36
Grinding away at the moment. Our lives feel very... is chaotic the right word? Maybe, or maybe we just have a lot of balls up in the air at the moment. We have moved out of our old caravan, returned it to the manufacturer, picked up our new caravan, have started to move into that, while attempting to cram in as many catch ups with family and friends as possible, while also looking at rental properties on the Sunshine Coast while we plan and organise family to view the properties for us while...
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Day 35 - I missed a whole weekend.
I missed writing the whole weekend. I'm doing too well with the whole 'Writing for 100 days in a row' thing. I think I've missed like 4 or 5 days in the first 40 - so I'm off to a pretty bad start. But if nothing else, I definitely feel like writing is becoming more of a habit - and sometimes the writing really flows. And some times I'm just doing it because I said I would do it, but there is little to no inspiration behind it at all. I'm just jumping on, tapping a few words, and ticking the...
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Day 34
How do you write with soul? How do you put down into words the emotions, thoughts and feelings you have, and be able to convey that message to others, and have them feel, through your writing, how you feel? I've been wondering lately what makes writing have meaning. What makes it more than words on paper, or words on a screen, that have little impact or meaning. Is it writing about life experiences and being able to explain the depths at which you experienced such things? I don't know. Litt...
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Day 33 - Pub catch ups without drinking
I haven't had a drink for about 4 months. So tonight I caught up with one of my best mates, classic pub style catch up - normally for me it would be have a few beers, a feed and a yarn. Well tonight I did have a few beers - except they were non alcoholic. And guess what? I didn't feel like I was missing out one bit. The thought of going to the pub to sink a few non alcoholic beers probably seems pretty bloody stupid to most people, but to me it felt really...normal. Like I could still enjoy...
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Day 32 - Life is hectic at the moment.
The title says it all. It feels like we have it all going on at the moment. We are house sitting for friends at the moment, and have spent the last week completely emptying and cleaning our caravan in preparation to return it to the manufacturer, to then receive our replacement caravan. Sounds like a simple process, right? Well this is the culmination of what has been about 6 months in the making, from when we were first granted our request of a replacement caravan due to the extensive issues...
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Day 31
I've been selling my soul, working all day, overtime hours, for bullshit pay. These lyrics are absolutely brilliant. See you tomorrow. Adam day#31 ...
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Day 30
I just realised I missed writing yesterday. Like it didn't even cross my mind until just then that I forgot to write yesterday. I have no idea how that happened. Today did not stop raining in the hills. All day. And while it is a beautiful thing to be in the hills and have a taste of the cool hills air, I'm glad I don't live here. Winter would grind away at me and considering it is only April and there is already somewhat of a winter feel, I'm very much looking forward to getting our new carav...
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Day 29 - Build the life of your dreams or you'll be hired to build someone elses
Build the life of your dreams or you'll be hired to build someone else's. This quote hit me square between the eyeballs. You see, for quite a while I've had this burning inside me that I want to build something. I want to build something for myself, something that can be my building block and house my aspirations. But the hardest thing is starting. Laying the foundation. Doubts over the path and how it might be received are a constant thing holding me back, stopping me from completely diving i...
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Day 28
Another night of not having anything overly brilliant to write about. Today was a very slow moving day - the cold mornings here in Melbourne are not very motivating in regards to getting outside in the morning. I much prefer the Queensland lifestyle and weather (hence why we are moving there!). But today was full some beautiful moments, in awe of my girls as they played together and created games out of seamingly thin air - listening to how they are conversing and their story lines. It's a t...
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Day 27 - A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor. What a bloody saying. This quote has been absolutely jammed in my brain since I read it in the book I am currently reading. It has reshaped my thinking with how to deal with adversity. Or rather how to view adverse situations. Because how would we learn, develop, and grow without facing any type of adversity or 'hard times?' How would we appreciate the good times if we didn't have the bad? When life feels tough, when it feels like a grind - I'm goin...
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Day 26
Today was an interesting day. Firstly, our children were absolutely wild today. Tantrums. Fighting. Arguing. The lot. It felt intense. And yet somehow, through all the chaos, my wife and I essentially decided that we are done with the caravan and travel life. Now I'm not going to lie, this has been brewing for some time. It should be no secret by now, by travel life is hard. Don't get me wrong, there are some incredible aspects to it - but it is bloody hard. And on top of that, trying to wor...
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Day 25
The end of the long weekend. I'm going to be honest - I'm not a hugely religious person. I'm not atheist, but I just don't have a strong opinion for or against religion. But I loved all the time I got with my family this weekend. We had 4 beautiful, slow, relatively uneventful (the usual bickering and fighting that 2 toddler siblings have - and maybe a few too many easter eggs yesterday) days - that was exactly what was needed after a hectic few months on the road. It reminded us what li...
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Day 24
Happy Easter people. See you tomorrow. Adam day24 ...
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Day 23
I kept yesterday very brief. Some days I get to the end of the day and I honestly don't have anything in my mind that I feel is worth putting down. Or I honestly just want to go to bed so I can start reading (especially if I am really into the book I am reading). So last night was a simple message - 'Stay humble, stack sats'. If you're a bitcoiner, you may have some idea what this means. If you're not a bitcoiner, then I recommend you remove any negative bias you may have towards bitcoin...
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Day 22
Stay humble, stack sats. See you tomorrow. Adam day22 ...
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Day 21 - Workin' a real job just ain't for me.
Today I actually went to work. Like a workplace. The place where people go to spend 8 hours of a day, a third of their precious 24 hours that they get each day that somehow gets allocated to trading their time for an hourly wage so that you can live some semblance of a life on the weekends and in the evening. Can you tell I loved going to work today? So here's the thing. For the last 18 months, I've worked remotely. I wake up, and 2 minutes later I open my laptop and I'm 'clocked on'. For me ...
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Day 20
Back in Melbourne town. It has been about 18 months since we have properly been back in our former home town - and it is safe to say not much has changed. Except for the fact that the place I spent the first 34 year of my life no longer feels like home. I guess that can happen when you spend a pretty rough 2 years going in and out of lockdown - kept in your house for the safety of everyone else, curfews placed upon you telling you what time you have to be home by, playgrounds being closed, a...
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Day 19
Yesterday my writing felt super inspired. I had the juices flowing, and I even only had the intention to write a small piece but it flowed into something much longer and stronger. Tonight I am feeling the opposite. I am tired. It's 9.30pm, and I want to reach some of my book and go to bed. See you tomorrow. Adam day19 ...
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Day 18 - A bad habit to drop to help get the best out of YOU
Last year was a really interesting year for me in many ways. In ways it was year that I made some real progress - and also some false starts - on my 'health and wellness' journey (that sounds like a bit of a wank doesn't it?) I was faltering with getting my workouts going with any sort of routine - I had every excuse under the sun - not enough time, not a great space to do it in, not the right equipment, too hard with the kids, blah blah blah. But the reality was that I had some bad habits ...
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Day 17 - Long days driving.
Today was a long one. We departed Adelaide at 9am this morning, with the intention of covering as much ground and making as much progress towards Melbourne as possible. The result? 8 hours in the car covering over 500km, which is a bloody good effort with 2 toddlers to contend with! It has left us with 3 hours to get to our destination in Melbourne tomorrow - a small task after what we covered today! On that note, it is time to wind down some book reading before bed. See you tomorrow. Adam ...
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Day #16*
As I've previously written about, the desire to move away from the travel lifestyle and back into a home is growing for me. We've lived in our caravan for 18 months, and I'm increasingly seeing little signs that I think we will soon be keen to make the move. For me, the space isn't the issue. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a little bit more room and the ability to have a home gym set up somewhere - but more so I believe the girls, especially my 4 yr old, needs the stability of a house and comm...
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Day #15
Parenting - for me it feels at times you are in a form of survival mode, doing the best you can to raise these young humans, but also just trying to get through each day relatively unscathed - us and them. And then times of reflection, questioning whether you are raising your children the right way, with the right amount of discipline and structure but also giving them enough freedom to take risks to learn, develop and grow - and wondering whether you are on the right path or have you got it m...
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Day #14
Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. I got that stark reminder talking to a 57 year old man today with less than a year to live. While he was telling me his story and explaining in a quite a matter of fact manner that his life was soon going to be ending, it hit me between the eyes, and not for the first time in my life, that life is so incredibly short. Even if you have a good innings and get to your 80's, you may still look back and wonder how the years flew by. I know one thing is for certain. I wa...
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Day #13
Today just feels like any other day. As I sit here there is no overwhelming inspiration that comes to me about what to write about tonight. My youngest daughter is unwell, and I've already been in bed with her to give her a cuddle, so I know that's where I'm destined to be shortly. So for today, I'm just going to leave it there. See you tomorrow Adam day#13 ...
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Day #12 - When you think you find the idea that sparks you.
I've been feeling a little lost lately. Not in an overly dramatic sense. Generally speaking I feel very fulfilled with life, and incredibly grateful to have my beautiful family and live the life we do. But after reading The Art of Focus by Dan Koe, I knew that there was more I wanted to achieve. A fire in my belly was lit, but how to keep fueling it remained unanswered. Idea's are constantly swirling around my head, mainly centered around how I can build my own little empire, build something...
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Day #11 - 8 hour driving day.
One of the realities of van life. Big days driving. To be honest these days are few and far between for us (by design). We rarely do huge days in the car, but sometimes there just isn't much between point A and point B, so the best option is to smash some k's. We did nearly 400km's today driving from Streaky Bay to Port Augusta. We managed to leave at just after 10am, got about an hour and half down before everyone had a little chance to stretch their legs, have a toilet stop, go to the dump...
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Day #10 - One of those really good days. Exploring Streaky Bay.
Today felt like magic. We have been in Streaky Bay since Wednesday. Due to the fact that I have been working (and do work) Monday to Friday from my laptop, we haven't really done much exploring around the Streaky Bay surrounds. We had a booking for this weekend at Perlubie Beach, which was going to be the end point of our Eyre Peninsula exploring before heading back to Adelaide by next weekend to see some friends before booting back to Melbourne. Perlubie is this amazing beach camp, where yo...
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Day #9 The push and pull
Living on the road in our caravan for the last 18 months has taught us so many things. But one of the things we are constantly toying with is the pull to settle down. To lay roots. To find our community and our people. To give some consistency and routine to our childrens lives. To our lives. Yet we know that this travel lifestyle won't be forever. The days of towing our little home behind us everywhere we go will one day be a distant memory, yet the experiences and time we had together will...
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Day #8 - The Ocean
Nature. There is nothing like it. This afternoon we took a short drive to the back beach at Streaky Bay. Initially it almost wasn't going to happen - kids taking forever to get ready, stuffing around, felt like we were going around in circles just trying to get into the car. But as soon as we got there - the energy was phenomenal. Bay beaches are great, but there is nothing like the ocean - the wildness, the ruggedness, the waves crashing down reminding you of their relentless power and soun...
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Day #7 - I already missed a day
It took me a week. A week and I have missed my first day in the 100 day challenge. To say I was disappointed when I realised this morning would be a complete understatement, however I have two options from here - give up or keep charging forward. The writing of this post suggests the latter. We are feeling somewhat burnt out at the moment. 2 and a half months of frequent travelling has us feeling like we need a little reset. We've been on the move on average 2-3 times a week, sometimes more - ...
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Day #6
Today doesn't feel overly inspiring. I'm writing today because I know I should, and I don't want to fail a challenge 6 days into it. Another stinking hot day today. Everyone is feeling a little worn out. We are due to be on the move tomorrow and it's going to be another hot one, 37 degrees, and I'm meant to be starting my work week (today being a public holiday in Victoria, which is where the company I work for is based). Sometimes you just feel like you are grinding, maybe not making any hu...
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Learning lessons every day + parenting is hard.
Today felt difficult. Mainly because it was. Parenting toddlers is difficult as it is. Sometimes, it is absolute bliss - the stars align, and everyone is happy, laughing, playing games and you are just in complete awe of the little humans you created, and wondering how you could possibly love them any more. And other times, it's an absolute shit show. And today felt like a bit more of that. I think that children are generally incredibly resilient - more so than we give them credit for. Our ...
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Day 4
Early morning writing session this morning - all my other writing has been late in the PM after the girls have gone to bed and I've finished my work. I have just sat down after my first run since signing up to the marathon. As I ran I watched the sun come up, and felt the burning in my lungs as I pushed myself on less than ideal terrain. How else would you want to start your Saturday morning? I'm constantly reminding myself that I need to do the hard things to keep being better - to keep ope...
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day #3
Friday night. Sitting down with a hot chocolate (cacao) at 8.48pm to brain dump my day, or rather what the weekend now holds for us. We are currently exploring the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, and are slowly making our way west towards Streaky Bay and Perlubie before we chuck a u-turn, and start heading east, back to Victoria and Melbourne where we will be picking up our new caravan at the end of the month - and by new, I mean a replacement for the caravan we are currently living in whic...
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The reality of the caravan life.
The highs and lows of living in a caravan and travelling around the country. From the euphoric highs of being camped on the beach, falling asleep to the waves crashing and almost as if they are lapping up against our home on wheels. To the feeling of freedom when you pull your home behind you - taking it everywhere and anywhere and knowing that you have your whole life in this box on wheels. And it is all you need. And then there is the reality. The everyday grind that isn't seen in the high...
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Time to get uncomfortable.
It's not everyday that you make 2 commitments that you know will push you both in a physical and also a mental sense - and when I explain what I have committed to, you'll know what I mean. Firstly, I signed up for my first marathon today. I told my wife that I was going to do it, and the sideways look she gave me told me that she thought I had gone a little mad. However, it should not have come as too much of a surprise to her. In August last year, I told her that I was going to run a half mar...
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