Latest / Off Grid Down Under by MDC / EP 47 | Sell Up, Quit Your Job, Hit the Road - Hapnin' Empty Nesters

Transcript

EP 47 | Sell Up, Quit Your Job, Hit the Road - Hapnin' Empty Nesters · Off Grid Down Under by MDC

0:00
SPEAKER_04: I'd had an episode or told me I couldn't go anywhere, so I was sitting on my cousin's couch.
0:04
SPEAKER_03: They told us there's no more travelling.
0:06
SPEAKER_04: They told us that my travelling was done, so and I said to Trin, I just feel like I'm surviving.
0:11
SPEAKER_04: But what for?
0:12
SPEAKER_04: You know, to die?
0:13
SPEAKER_04: No.
0:14
SPEAKER_04: How about we get living?
0:15
SPEAKER_04: How about we just get out there?
0:16
SPEAKER_04: Because if something happens when I'm out there, so be it.
0:19
SPEAKER_04: But at least I'm not sitting on a couch.
0:21
SPEAKER_01: I took three new couples.
0:22
SPEAKER_01: They went, Oh, we want to do it one day.
0:23
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, I don't know what you're waiting for.
0:25
SPEAKER_01: Come.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to be happy, just talk less to doctors, obviously.
0:29
SPEAKER_03: And they have no idea of travelling and living in a caravan.
0:33
SPEAKER_03: Like they always say, Oh, where's your home?
0:34
SPEAKER_03: And I say, In a caravan.
0:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but where are you based?
0:38
SPEAKER_03: Anywhere, wherever we park it.
0:39
SPEAKER_03: And they just they just look at us dumbfounded and they go, No, really?
0:43
SPEAKER_03: And we're like, Yeah, really?
0:44
SPEAKER_03: Let's just do a month trip.
0:46
SPEAKER_03: Let's just see if we like each other after living in a caravan.
0:50
SPEAKER_03: What was it, two weeks into that trip?
0:51
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was.
0:52
SPEAKER_03: Our house had sold, and we just went, we're doing this.
0:55
SPEAKER_04: Well, the doctors told me stress-free life, and you can't get any more stress-free than just parking your van up somewhere in a nice camp spot and just stare at the fire.
1:33
SPEAKER_05: Not true, Steve.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, Kane and Katrina have swapped conventional life for travel out and about full-time in their caravan.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: They've got their social media, Happen and Empty Nesters, and today they're going to share their journey and how they ended up living the dream full-time on the road.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: For anyone that hasn't encountered you guys before through socials, etc., give us a bit of a rundown who you are and what is Happening Empty Nesters.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: This monsteriness.
2:06
SPEAKER_03: So we're happening and Empty Nesters.
2:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, our boys left home, they went to uni in Brisbane, and so we became empty nesters.
2:14
SPEAKER_03: And um, yes, Kane had a heart transplant assessment, and we went, you know what?
2:21
SPEAKER_03: While he's okay at the moment, let's hit the road and go traveling.
2:26
SPEAKER_04: Trina's always wanted to do it ever since the kids were little, and I've always been the one that goes, No, let's work, let's get some money, let's get some mortgages, all that good stuff.
2:36
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, when you get a bit of a scare like that, you go, wait a minute, you've got to reassess.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: It becomes a bit overrated, doesn't it?
2:42
SPEAKER_04: It does, yes.
2:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the nine to five work is yeah, not important.
2:47
SPEAKER_04: Well, the doctors told me stress-free life, and you can't get any more stress-free than just parking your van up somewhere in a nice camp spot and just stare at the fire.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: So you change your phone numbers and the kids don't know how to contact you.
3:01
SPEAKER_03: They left us.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: It's all fair.
3:04
SPEAKER_03: That's it, that's what we left, so we're we're gone.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's an important messaging to people that don't wait until the rest of the world gives you the hint to get off and live your dreams.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, do it while you're young, while you're physically capable.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: Because I I can't imagine taking all the treks and all the wonderful places as side tracks while travelling when you're 85 years of age.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Not chance.
3:35
SPEAKER_03: No way, and that's what like Kane, um, you know, his health isn't going to be going down.
3:42
SPEAKER_03: So we said, while he can actually do some hikes and things like that, we needed to go.
3:48
SPEAKER_03: He was still, oh, five more years.
3:50
SPEAKER_03: We need a bit more money, five more years.
3:52
SPEAKER_03: And I'm just like, no, we need to do it now.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's it.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: And and you see it even with with smaller destination trips in mind.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: Like, how often have you seen people that uh no?
4:03
SPEAKER_00: We'll do the Cape next year, the year after that, I need this for the truck, I need that for the truck.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: Next thing you know, they're$25,000 in accessories into the truck, then something in their life changes and they miss out.
4:17
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
4:17
SPEAKER_04: All you really need is the will to do it.
4:19
SPEAKER_04: You get to choose, just do it.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: It's well, you were a Sparky before before you went on this trip, and you were a teacher.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: So those careers are pretty hard to walk away from there.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: You know, obviously, as a Sparky, we all know you make more money than anyone else on a building site.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: Bringbacks only.
4:42
SPEAKER_00: So, what was the actual moment you looked at each other and said, It's on, we're going.
4:48
SPEAKER_04: Look, for me, it was when my specialists in Townsville said I'm beyond what they can offer, and I need to go down to Brisbane for a heart transplant assessment.
4:58
SPEAKER_04: And that was like, wow, that's you know, this is real now.
5:02
SPEAKER_04: And if we don't do something now, I'll have regrets, and I don't want any regrets, so I'm like you said, I don't want to wait, I don't want to spend a lot of money getting something ready.
5:11
SPEAKER_04: We just get it and go now.
5:12
SPEAKER_04: And so it was hard sort of walking away from the electrical business because it's something that I built up and grew and I loved it, but in the end, it's really easy now doing what we're doing.
5:24
SPEAKER_03: So, and like when we went down for the heart transplant assessment, they actually said Kane's not on all the best drugs and things like that.
5:31
SPEAKER_03: So they put him on those and he got a new lease of life.
5:35
SPEAKER_03: Like he had so much more energy, could do so much more, and so we'd already bought our MDC van and we said, look, we're putting our rental house on the market to sell.
5:46
SPEAKER_03: Let's just do a month trip.
5:48
SPEAKER_03: Let's just see if we like each other after living in a caravan, because we only have a 13-foot caravan, so let's see if we like each other after that.
5:56
SPEAKER_03: And and what was it, two weeks into that trip?
6:00
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was.
6:00
SPEAKER_03: Our house had sold that we'd put on the market, and we just went, we're doing this.
6:05
SPEAKER_03: So that's awesome.
6:06
SPEAKER_03: We and I literally gave worker terms notice.
6:09
SPEAKER_03: I said, one term, I'm gone.
6:11
SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's that's the way to do it, really.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: Now, there are people that are going to be watching this podcast that have the same aspiration, and where they are now, and where you guys are in your journey, what advice would you have for them to make up their mind now and make that transition?
6:31
SPEAKER_00: What would help them accelerate that dream?
6:36
SPEAKER_04: Well, my one is really you just got to do it.
6:40
SPEAKER_04: And I know it's it's easy to say some people it's daunting, but it's actually easier than you think.
6:46
SPEAKER_03: And you don't need as much money as you like now.
6:50
SPEAKER_03: Admittedly, we did sell an investment property and we had that backup, but that was more because Kane couldn't work, so we were like, um, we needed that bit of extra cash to start with, but you can do it without a huge amount of money.
7:03
SPEAKER_03: Just we've seen rooftoppers, there's work out there everywhere.
7:08
SPEAKER_03: So, really, the only thing that's stopping you is you making that decision.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Is getting past that sticking point in your mind.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Because yeah, it's I guess it's it's an invet huge investment in lifestyle, and you know, you have to have a a degree of passion to want to do it, but yeah, I think breaking routine is really difficult, and I guess leaving those safety nets that you have.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: If you if you're in your home, you're mortgage-free, you've got a rental property, you you do have an income stream, and it's hard to to break out of that safety net.
7:47
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that that was my problem.
7:48
SPEAKER_04: I I wanted to be there, Trina wanted to go.
7:51
SPEAKER_04: We travelled a lot with our boys when they were younger, and for some reason you do, you get stuck in that rut.
7:57
SPEAKER_04: But once you make that decision, let's do this, it actually becomes really easy.
8:02
SPEAKER_04: It gets exciting, to be honest.
8:03
SPEAKER_04: It actually gets exciting.
8:04
SPEAKER_04: You've got a new venture, new doors are opening, and you know, wow, let's go.
8:09
SPEAKER_03: Look, my only one bit of advice would be to do, I would say, at least a one-month trip first before you make the decision.
8:18
SPEAKER_03: Because so many people I know um they they didn't like it.
8:23
SPEAKER_03: They like they're not caravanners or they're not campers.
8:25
SPEAKER_03: Like, as Kane said, we've done it all our lives, so we knew we'd like that aspect of it.
8:30
SPEAKER_03: But if you haven't done a lot of that, I would actually suggest doing a bigger trip first.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's similar to something I suggested when I was in the showroom to families, especially if they've got young kids.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: I would say come into the showroom when the youngest is overtired and overstimulated, and the other one's bored because you've had them out all day doing stuff they don't like, then go and sit in the caravan you're interested in and see if you can go an hour without wanting to choke them.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: And I that is it, because you are really test driving how you're gonna go.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: My next question was you know, what did the preparation look like?
9:11
SPEAKER_00: And obviously, your preparation was pack up, go for a month, which would have made quite an easy transition to just okay, we're not going home.
9:20
SPEAKER_04: No, it made a really easy transition because, like I said, it's 13 foot.
9:24
SPEAKER_04: We do get along really well, and if you do have issues or little disagreements, there's a whole paddock out there to go and watch.
9:31
SPEAKER_04: You don't have to sit and look at each other in the van, you just go outside, that's the beauty about it, and you can just cool off.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's my rock.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to fish on it.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: That's yours over there.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
9:43
SPEAKER_04: That's that's how it does, and it works.
9:45
SPEAKER_04: And chop wood.
9:46
SPEAKER_03: The hardest thing coming back after the month was that we knew I had to do a term of work before we could go.
9:53
SPEAKER_03: I literally could have just said we're not coming back at all.
9:57
SPEAKER_03: Um, and it was literally so we could pack up the house and that sort of stuff.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that that is like, oh my god, I've got to do all this before I can live again.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: I can imagine the feeling.
10:08
SPEAKER_03: And Kane was exhausted by the time we actually left because he was painting and cleaning and all of that stuff.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is it is a big job.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: So, what were you teaching?
10:17
SPEAKER_03: Uh I was primary school PE teacher.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
10:22
SPEAKER_03: I had the fun job, like uh it's a good job, but uh I had to, it was the athletics carnivals and swimming carnivals that was the big work.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Oh, what a way to torture kids.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Do laps, do laps.
10:34
SPEAKER_04: Don't get me wrong, I get teacher voice a little bit.
10:39
SPEAKER_03: It's only when you do stuff wrong.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, so when you made this decision and you discussed it with with family, close friends and whatnot, like what was the reaction like?
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Did you question it?
10:53
SPEAKER_00: Did they question your sanity in doing it?
10:55
SPEAKER_00: What was the reaction?
10:57
SPEAKER_04: I don't think we really discussed it.
11:00
SPEAKER_04: We pretty much sort of told them it's our lives, you can't live someone else's, so and that's what we wanted to do.
11:06
SPEAKER_04: They were a little bit dubious about, you know, yeah, how are you going to live financially and that, but you make it work.
11:12
SPEAKER_04: It's like anything you do, you make it work.
11:14
SPEAKER_04: And if it doesn't, if it all falls over, you just end up back doing what you're doing for a while until you can get it to work again.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: So it was basically Sunday lunch, Sunday dinners cancelled for the foreseeable future.
11:25
SPEAKER_03: And because the boys had already left, look, their biggest concern was they didn't want us to sell our house in town, so because they loved that house.
11:32
SPEAKER_03: And um, so they were quite happy when we weren't selling that house, we're just renting it out.
11:37
SPEAKER_03: But um, my mum and dad, they have done very similar.
11:40
SPEAKER_03: They've sold a house, they've been living in their caravan for over 10 years now.
11:43
SPEAKER_03: So my mum and dad were fine.
11:45
SPEAKER_03: Cain's parents are a bit more stable.
11:48
SPEAKER_04: They are a bit more stable.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: We've been saying that mum and dad have been around Australia a couple of times in van and a uh caravan that too, yeah.
11:56
SPEAKER_00: This is this is something that that I've noticed a lot in with the people that are purchasing caravans now.
12:03
SPEAKER_00: There are less and less people purchasing that have got previous camping and or legacy of caravans and camping in the family.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: Of course, you know, the the number of people buying caravans has expanded enormously.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: How important to you is that legacy, the the prior having done the camping and whatnot previously with your parents and family?
12:27
SPEAKER_04: Very, I'd say it's very important.
12:29
SPEAKER_04: I know it's sort of hard.
12:30
SPEAKER_04: Newbies and you guys are know more than us, they they're just not aware of how to do things, how to fix things, how to sort of set things up.
12:38
SPEAKER_04: As Banksy mentioned, if there's any maintenance on the road, you need to know how I can sort of get this going to get to somewhere we can get it fixed, and there's plenty of people that sort of don't have that knowledge, so it would be hard for them.
12:53
SPEAKER_04: But the ones that do, yeah, just the van's the easiest thing in the world, mate.
12:57
SPEAKER_04: Camp a trailer, hard van easier.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's just pull up and it's been a lot of years since I've camper trailer.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've met 40 couples here this weekend because I did all the bumping, and they said they knew like van's one week, two week old, and I've been around and seen them over the last two days, and they were like, Oh, so what do we do?
13:18
SPEAKER_01: Where do we go?
13:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to do my next trip.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: And I said, There's so much you can see on YouTube or just out of Brisbane.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: I said, There's pub stays, there's events out that way.
13:27
SPEAKER_01: Just start Googling information centres, those things there, and you will see that there's a vast array of things that you can go to, and like you said, free camp makes it cheaper.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: Then you do dinner, and then you go see what the town has to offer.
13:43
SPEAKER_01: So it does offer a great lifestyle.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: And these people said they can't wait after hearing from here about more places to go.
13:50
SPEAKER_04: So well, there's Australia has a massive amount of places to go to and see, and we'll never see it, even travelling full-time.
13:57
SPEAKER_04: We will never see it.
13:59
SPEAKER_04: And it changes too, it changes every year.
14:02
SPEAKER_04: So you might go somewhere and the weather was terrible, you didn't have a good experience.
14:05
SPEAKER_04: The next time you go there, it's fantastic.
14:08
SPEAKER_04: So, yeah, I highly recommend everyone make sure you see Australia, don't just blast overseas and forget Australia.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: I I guess as a as a resource, a learning resource, and also as an inspiration, if people follow your social media and similar social media, yeah, that is a really good way to learn from other people's first hand experience and pick up those pointers.
14:34
SPEAKER_03: That's exactly what I was going to say.
14:36
SPEAKER_03: Jump on our YouTube, happen and tesis.
14:38
SPEAKER_03: Just a little plug in that channel.
14:40
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, like we we sort of show you, we talk about like how we often find the camps, whether it's you know, word of mouth or wiki camps, our Bible, you know, things like that.
14:51
SPEAKER_03: Um, and we show you different things that we're doing along the way, which if you've never been camping, some of those things you might be like, oh, I didn't realise that you could do that or something like that.
15:02
SPEAKER_00: And the don'ts, like don't pick up the wriggly sticks, and that's right.
15:06
SPEAKER_00: And look before you when you pull up before you step out of the vehicle, open the door and look down and make sure there's not a a brown stick there, that sort of thing.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, there is a there is a lot to learn, and I guess safety is a premium, especially for people with kids.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, there's there's so much really good free content out there now.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: I know as an industry, um, the caravan industry could do better with providing.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: We've we've had a red-hot go at providing that information, but you know, if if you've bought a caravan and you're not getting the educational sort of content that you need, or people like these guys, you know, having an empty nesters, follow their YouTube and see how everyone's doing it with experience and making the most of it.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: So I don't know about experience.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of wing in it still.
16:01
SPEAKER_00: There always is, you know, we're winging it now.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: We've hardly kept it a script, but it's um but it's something you you're seeing people's first time experience with something, how they handle it, and and then you can look at and say, well, okay, well, I could do that or I could add this or not do that.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: So they will learn from your your experiences regardless of success or failure in them.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I think that's really important, and I don't think that the average person puts enough um, I guess, of themselves into following that up and and learning from the people out there doing it.
16:38
SPEAKER_01: So we had an example this week, Steve.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: So these guys are at the Gimpy Muster, and we meet up every year out there.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: Um I was outside camp and just sitting out there having a morning cup of coffee, a couple walk past, and they were saying they're at banjo how much it cost in here.
16:52
SPEAKER_01: And when I started talking about what's outside of the campgrounds and in the campgrounds, they were blown away that they'd been coming here for two years to that event and never been out to see the bars that people build or the activities that go on outside.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: There was line dancing, there was guitar lessons, there was music, young kids singing, just trying to make a living to get started in the industry.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: And that's from from us from we know to go look at all this stuff.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: But the people that come, they just got to ask a question.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: And when they sit beside someone at the bar, they're oh, what's going on out there?
17:29
SPEAKER_01: And you tell them, and then they go, Oh.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: So I know from that lot of people, they've got a van, so now they want to come back and they want to know about how to do the process of rope and off and how to go see all this stuff.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: And once they get that knowledge, and I said it's on YouTube too.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Like I know you guys have got a YouTube part on the Gimpy Muster.
17:47
SPEAKER_05: Yep.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, I said, go look and you'll see and all these things that you can do.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Could be an off-grid down under 100%.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Hosted by Mr.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Banks.
17:58
SPEAKER_04: Banksy's definitely right though.
18:00
SPEAKER_04: You just talk to people, that's the biggest one.
18:02
SPEAKER_04: You know, you just go and talk.
18:04
SPEAKER_04: If you're new, you just talk because events like this MDC one, yeah, you're right there.
18:09
SPEAKER_04: They can get all the information, you just have to talk to people.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: I took I took three new couples, never been there before, but have MDC, two had MDC bands, but they went, Oh, we want to do it one day.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, I don't know what you're waiting for.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: And come.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: And then like we went and did the pig races, people come out there and they went, Does this go on in country towns?
18:29
SPEAKER_01: And I'm there going, Yeah, there's there's pig race, there's pumpkin races, there's pumpkin, chook races at Tambo.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: There's all this stuff that's out of Brisbane, and you could turn it into month trip, one-week trip, and oh weekenders.
18:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: There is a weekender every weekend, somewhere within a few hours of Brisbane.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: And it and look, Queenslanders embrace that culture better than anywhere I've ever seen.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: So there is if you're bought if you're in Brisbane and you're bored, that's a you problem because there's so much to do.
19:03
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, 100% right.
19:04
SPEAKER_03: Well, what's I was gonna say, you know, and if you're not at the right time of your life, you know, you might have kids in high school or something, and you can't leave to just travel.
19:12
SPEAKER_03: My suggestion would be to get out on weekends, a week, and practice all those things that you need, yeah, all the different skills and that.
19:19
SPEAKER_03: Learn your van, know how it works and all of that while you've got that bit of time.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and when you can you're set to get head off and do it, you're ready.
19:28
SPEAKER_03: You've had the experience.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: You know enough that the problems are not going to be insurmountable.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be oh yeah, that's not no problem at all.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: Now, if there's one thing you wish someone had told you before undertaking this, what would it be?
19:43
SPEAKER_03: I reckon it would have been to slow down.
19:46
SPEAKER_03: Because when we first hit the road the first three months, we were barely staying in a place two nights.
19:52
SPEAKER_03: We were just, you know, we've got we've got to go see everything, we've got to do everything now.
19:56
SPEAKER_03: And it actually uh caused us to fight and that a bit more.
20:00
SPEAKER_04: We had a few fights.
20:02
SPEAKER_03: Or which way to go, but but yeah, just just to slow down and enjoy it.
20:07
SPEAKER_04: Of course I did.
20:08
SPEAKER_04: Yes, she did.
20:08
SPEAKER_04: But yes, slow down, experience it.
20:10
SPEAKER_04: Don't just see it, you have to experience it.
20:13
SPEAKER_04: So that was to be honest, that was probably more me because I thought, oh, we got the New South Wales, Blue Mountains, lakes, rivers.
20:20
SPEAKER_04: I need to see it all, and we were just bang, bang, bang, bang.
20:23
SPEAKER_04: But I wasn't relaxing, I wasn't sort of enjoying it.
20:26
SPEAKER_04: And once you realise just slow down, take your time, experience every place you go to.
20:32
SPEAKER_03: And you find that's how we find hidden gems.
20:35
SPEAKER_03: Like we spend a week at a place, and so we look at everything on Wikicamps, on Google Maps of what we can look at in that area, and we go check it all out.
20:45
SPEAKER_04: Even the locals will sit there and say, Have you seen this spot?
20:47
SPEAKER_04: No, I haven't even heard of that one, so then you go to that spot there, and it's magic, you know.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: It's so now that you're you're on the road, tell us what would a normal week look like while you're out and about.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: There's no such thing as a normal week, is there?
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Um Is there is there a routine or a pattern or some must-dus?
21:08
SPEAKER_04: You have breakfast in the morning, lunch when you can, and tea when you can.
21:12
SPEAKER_04: What you do in outside of those is entirely up to you.
21:15
SPEAKER_04: So a normal week is it's very flexible.
21:19
SPEAKER_04: You've got the freedom to do whatever you want, so we don't really have a normal week as such.
21:23
SPEAKER_03: It depends, and like if we're travelling that week, we might be travelling every day to get to a destination, say like the Gimpy Master.
21:32
SPEAKER_03: Or otherwise, like when we're at Carcour, we just found Carkour and it was a beautiful spot, so we decided to camp up for a week.
21:40
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, and when you when you camp up for a week, then you start doing a few of your chores and that around, you know.
21:46
SPEAKER_03: That's probably the one thing is when you leave, some people think that they don't have chores anymore.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: But you still gotta wash and you still gotta wash up, and all of those jobs are there.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: You've got to empty the toilet can and put the spoon.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: And and you are limited for space.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: When you're at home you can leave half a dozen dishes on the bench.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: But you can't do that in a caravan because if that when you tow it, they all fall off.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: I guess you have to housekeeping is an important day of the year.
22:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so you sort of just gotta make sure you put that in there.
22:17
SPEAKER_03: But otherwise, yeah, we don't have like Ken and I are not early risers.
22:23
SPEAKER_03: So if we're going off to explore, it'll be usually at about 10, 11 o'clock we leave.
22:28
SPEAKER_03: But then we don't usually get home that night until dark.
22:31
SPEAKER_04: I always sit there and say we're never gonna be the first to leave a campsite, but we will be the last.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: So tell me what what are the the tough parts or things that aren't so much fun that don't make it into the Friday um video?
22:51
SPEAKER_03: For for me, and we've shared a little bit, like we've shared Kane's heart journey.
22:54
SPEAKER_03: For me, the hard part is um when you get to more of an isolated area, and we have Starlink, but for me it's like if he's just not feeling 100%, then I start worrying, you know, is he gonna be okay?
23:08
SPEAKER_03: How can I get help?
23:10
SPEAKER_03: How do I get out of here if I need to get out of here?
23:12
SPEAKER_03: Like that's probably the hardest part for me is just when we're in those sort of situations.
23:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I am very unpredictable, but for me, I'm just traditional always finances.
23:24
SPEAKER_04: Something breaks, you've got to fix it, something goes wrong, you know.
23:27
SPEAKER_04: How do we do that?
23:28
SPEAKER_04: It sort of just it does have a little impact on your plans of how far you might go.
23:33
SPEAKER_04: Oh, we've got to stop here and do a bit of work or whatever.
23:35
SPEAKER_03: But and that's probably something that doesn't go on our YouTube, is um we're about a year behind in our YouTube, but I we stop for work, and if I'm stopping and doing teaching for three weeks, we don't film any of that.
23:48
SPEAKER_03: So I can't film anything in a school anyway, so um, no one sort of we might mention it, but often we just don't.
23:55
SPEAKER_03: It looks like we are continuing on our travels all the time without stopping, but we've had periods that we've stopped.
24:01
SPEAKER_03: But because we're behind, I can get away with doing that.
24:04
SPEAKER_04: Mount Isa and Bowen were perfect examples of those because Trina goes and works, she doesn't do huge hours as a school teacher, don't so you've got the afternoons, the weekends.
24:13
SPEAKER_04: So we explored all Mount Isa and the surrounds had to offer.
24:17
SPEAKER_04: Bowen was the same, blew me away.
24:19
SPEAKER_04: There's some awesome sights and that to see.
24:21
SPEAKER_00: So you guys do a lot of free camping.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: What advice would you give, or what are people doing wrong when it comes to the availability of free camp?
24:34
SPEAKER_03: I don't think they're searching like WikiCamps enough.
24:38
SPEAKER_03: We had a bit of a challenge when we were down in um Canberra, staying down there for a little while.
24:44
SPEAKER_03: We'd have week on, week off um looking after my um niece's kids.
24:49
SPEAKER_03: And um, so on our week off we'd go camping, and our challenge was that we were going to either do donation and free camping only.
24:56
SPEAKER_03: Now that's around Canberra, around the South Coast of New South Wales.
25:00
SPEAKER_03: And came we'd spent ages researching, but we were able to find donation and free camps.
25:06
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: Do you pull into the information centres?
25:18
SPEAKER_01: I always drop in and pull the little pamphlets off the wall and go, yes, yes, no.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I haven't been to there before.
25:24
SPEAKER_04: Some we do, probably in the early days we did more than we do now, because you you get into our routine.
25:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we know how to do it now, so it's not just bang, let's hit the uh information centre to get it all.
25:36
SPEAKER_04: But if you're new, they certainly do provide a lot of information.
25:39
SPEAKER_03: And if we have a question about the area, like if a particular road's open or um you know whether we can do something, that's usually our place to go.
25:49
SPEAKER_03: Because the information centres are pretty good at being able to help you with that local knowledge.
25:54
SPEAKER_04: Trina's always one.
25:56
SPEAKER_04: I just got the van and bang, or we can go up that road, we're going up, and she'll look at me and say, Can you take the caravan up here?
26:03
SPEAKER_04: Yep.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the car up there, you get the van up there.
26:06
SPEAKER_00: Did you camp at the Brindabellas at all while you're down there?
26:09
SPEAKER_03: Brindabella's.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Brindabella Mountains?
26:11
SPEAKER_03: No, I don't know.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Around Canberra?
26:13
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's beautiful.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: There's uh Brumbies, etc.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: There's also a really, really good clearing to camp up at Belangalow State Forest between there and I think that's where our friends told us.
26:24
SPEAKER_03: It was just one that we didn't get to.
26:26
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, like I said, there's so many places because we've been up to Yarragabilly, I love it up there and that.
26:30
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, there's places in between there that I would love to go to.
26:34
SPEAKER_03: So we looked at, we wanted to do because I love Beager, Eden, that sort of area, and even the national parks along there were like nearly$30 a night.
26:45
SPEAKER_03: And we're like, that's crazy.
26:47
SPEAKER_03: So Kane did some researching and found this little town, Candelow, that had a donation park.
26:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, beautiful little donation park, and it was essential for us to trip around everywhere.
26:58
SPEAKER_04: 20 minutes from Beager, half an hour to the case sort of thing.
27:02
SPEAKER_04: It's perfect, and we're not spending the big dollars.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Well, actually, talking about down at um Tarthra near Beagre, we've got uh some much-loved customers who live down there, and the young bloke's got a property on the Beagre River, so we're kind of set for camping down there.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: It's absolutely amazing.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: The fishing is awesome.
27:22
SPEAKER_00: That neck of the woods in New South Wales is probably one of the most lovely parts of the entire state, and I think it's it's grossly underrated.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't think enough people get down there.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: That's good.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: One of my favourite camps you probably didn't stay at because it's a national park, is uh Gillard's Beach.
27:41
SPEAKER_03: Oh, I think we saw that, but yes, we didn't stay there.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that's camping almost on the sand, and it's it's a great place.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I can understand you wanting to look around that area.
27:52
SPEAKER_00: It's quite incredible.
27:53
SPEAKER_03: We actually said if um we never like if we didn't go back to Townsville where our house is, um, that southern New South Wales down there would be the one area that we would love to settle down into the world.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: If you do that, get me to get you in touch with Sue and Reg, the most lovely couple you'll ever meet, and they will show you around and and they are absolutely wonderful people.
28:17
SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
28:18
SPEAKER_03: See, and that's that's the thing that we love about travelling and camping is the people.
28:24
SPEAKER_03: Like, you know, even uh this event, the people that we meet are absolutely amazing, and we all we all have the same purpose and you know like-mindedness and so easy to get along with everyone.
28:37
SPEAKER_04: Well, I was gonna say that's right, it's the people, and you make friends.
28:40
SPEAKER_04: You have your work friends if you're in your normal life, and those sorts of ones who sort of hang out daily, but we see Banksy once a year.
28:47
SPEAKER_00: Once a year, Gibby Master.
28:48
SPEAKER_04: And we're good mates, it's all right.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: I guess the the boundaries of friend your mates at work and the boundaries of your friends outside when you're camping are very, very different.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: There's no HR when you're out camping.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: So you can be you, you can have your normal sense of humour, and you generally don't have to worry too much about offending anyone.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: Now, you're talking about free camps, donation free camps.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: So managing finances on the road full time, yep.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: Is is there something that you do you think would be of value for other people to learn from?
29:21
SPEAKER_03: Probably.
29:22
SPEAKER_03: Um, look, the one thing I always say is that we um had a lump sum of money and we would pay ourselves weekly.
29:29
SPEAKER_03: And I'd put that into my spending account.
29:32
SPEAKER_03: So rather than saying, you know, whatever you got, say$50,000, we've got$50,000, just blow it.
29:38
SPEAKER_03: We give ourselves, we started with a budget of$1,000 a week, and we actually found we weren't using it all, so I actually cut it back a little bit.
29:47
SPEAKER_03: We don't eat out a lot and things like that, but otherwise, it's yeah, we free camp and we travel slowly.
29:55
SPEAKER_03: So that was our biggest thing, and especially now with the fuel prices.
29:59
SPEAKER_03: A tank of fuel can last us two weeks if we're going slowly, if we stay something for where that's free for a week, we're not spending any money.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: That's very true, and I think I think managing those finances is probably a a real sticking point for a lot of people to not get out there as like, oh, how do we manage this?
30:17
SPEAKER_00: And because we all like to hang on to our little pot of gold, and yeah, but you can make it work.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: But I always say to people this if you're a couple and you're both over 60, you know, rent your house, put your super together, put it all in the highest return you can get where you can still access it, and you could be paying yourself four, five, six thousand a month to travel.
30:41
SPEAKER_04: I know I always find it strange, and even my parents did it, they go around Australia for 12 months, but they don't rent their house out.
30:48
SPEAKER_04: It's it's a money maker sitting there, and if people bust it up or whatever, you just fix it up.
30:55
SPEAKER_04: That's the reality of it, you know.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: It's yeah, it's uh it's like I guess landlord insurance.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: It's a thing you can insure against that sort of thing.
31:07
SPEAKER_03: That's exactly right.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I reckon do it.
31:10
SPEAKER_01: I found uh a couple that in 2007 when I did my lap that it was just handy, they were about to go build a house and they needed somewhere to stay, and then I had um some students overseas that were staying there, and I I counted as my daughter, so she wasn't going nowhere.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: So I did a deal, they come looked after her, made sure the house was maintained, so I got a little bit of income.
31:33
SPEAKER_01: But with the um, so that led it so it was easier, but there was definitely places there where I spent the money.
31:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:40
SPEAKER_01: So like Western Australia for me, it's somewhere where I don't you can't get over because of the distance as long as you want.
31:46
SPEAKER_01: So those key things like the whale dive.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: Hortifalls, those yeah, yeah.
31:51
SPEAKER_03: I think, and that's possibly one thing that you could sort of work out beforehand.
31:56
SPEAKER_03: What are your non-negotiables?
31:57
SPEAKER_03: What are those big ticket items that you would like to do and sort of have that you know money sort of put aside?
32:04
SPEAKER_03: My other tip would be to have just a little bit of backup money because we all know things break, things go wrong, and you don't want to be on your last hundred dollars sort of thing.
32:14
SPEAKER_03: Have just a little bit in your pocket that is not going to be spent on the trip so that you've got that backup there.
32:20
SPEAKER_04: I'll give you Trina has a name, no swearing, but it's beep hits the fan fund.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we all need one of those.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: So, Katrina, you do um coaching alongside the travel content.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: How's building that side of your life going?
32:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a bit slow at the moment, um, so but I haven't really pushed it as much because I've been doing a bit of teaching.
32:43
SPEAKER_03: So I do online teaching as well with Travelling Kids Academy, and I do that twice a w twice a month.
32:50
SPEAKER_03: And then I've had so many other people say, I'd I'd love to do YouTube, but I just don't know how to do it or how to get into it, and that sort of stuff.
32:58
SPEAKER_03: So I've had a couple of people, and um it was it's been really interesting.
33:02
SPEAKER_03: I actually found I knew more than I thought I did.
33:06
SPEAKER_03: Because I'd sit there and go, Oh, I don't really know much.
33:08
SPEAKER_03: And then when you sort of start breaking down, like I use Adobe Premiere Pro and how I use it, and that went, oh, I actually do know, and I can actually give some good tips out.
33:19
SPEAKER_03: So I um I it's something I have to start promoting and working on a bit more, but yeah.
33:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then what you don't learn through that s sort of coaching, the algorithms will tell you where you're failing and where you're succeeding.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: Because we we look at our YouTube channels that way, and and you can see all the the various like where you've grabbed the audience, where you haven't, and then change it from there.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: So someone coaching like yourself, it is a good head start into that sort of thing.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: And I think more people should consider it.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: I think there's so much talent out there going to waste because people can't get past themselves and say, hey, people will be interested in what I've got to say.
34:00
SPEAKER_03: And it's interesting because you know, um, some people are saying YouTube's really saturated, there's YouTube is everywhere.
34:06
SPEAKER_03: But I also read the other day, and it's so true, that there is a market for everyone, there is an audience for every single person.
34:14
SPEAKER_03: You that just have to find your audience, but you put it out there and your audience will come.
34:20
SPEAKER_00: That that's right.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: You you will find your birds of a feather who are interested in what you've got to say.
34:25
SPEAKER_04: Well, we've probably found over the years is the people that do follow you follow you more for you rather than the places you're going.
34:33
SPEAKER_04: They love that.
34:34
SPEAKER_04: They you know, free camp here, they love that, but they're just following in the end for you.
34:38
SPEAKER_04: They get to know you.
34:39
SPEAKER_04: That's why we follow people, isn't it?
34:41
SPEAKER_00: Because we want to see what they're up to, and that's probably the voyeuristic side of people as well.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: Let's face it.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: You know, you're getting you're getting a look inside people's lives and and what goes on.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: And it's always interesting because I think people watching is the the most interesting of any hobby.
35:00
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's our favourite hobby, yeah.
35:03
SPEAKER_04: Better than reality TV.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: So, Kane, a really surprising uh shift for a Sparky is going from Sparky to published author.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: Where did the inspiration come from to write?
35:17
SPEAKER_04: I did some writing when I was at school and I always wanted to write.
35:21
SPEAKER_04: It's just I love using my hands, so electrician was a good, you know, work thing for it.
35:27
SPEAKER_04: And I tried to start writing when I was younger, when we had kids, but it just never eventuated and never did it.
35:33
SPEAKER_04: But once you start travelling, you get the freedom.
35:35
SPEAKER_04: And as I said, you know, when one door closes, don't get stuck crying at that door, all these others open up.
35:41
SPEAKER_04: And I thought, you know what?
35:42
SPEAKER_04: While we're sitting here looking at this nice river, I'm just gonna sit down and start writing my book, and it it just happened, it just flowed, it just it's a dream come to true because that's what I wanted to do.
35:53
SPEAKER_00: So, where's your book available?
35:55
SPEAKER_04: On Amazon.
35:56
SPEAKER_04: So if anybody's got Amazon Kindle, or they can jump on our website, oh you can jump on our website, you can get a signed copy and get a title.
36:03
SPEAKER_04: Uh the first book's called Um City of Stone, and the second book is Song of the Death Swords, and the genre, so not everyone's gonna like it, but the genre is fantasy.
36:14
SPEAKER_04: So if you're into your Game of Thrones or your Lord of the Rings, these books are exactly what you're looking for.
36:20
SPEAKER_04: Dragons, magic, guys, a really big demographic out there, chunky TV series.
36:26
SPEAKER_03: And he's he's editing his third book now, so he's he's written it, he's just editing.
36:31
SPEAKER_04: So I've even been sitting over there this morning just going through my third book.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: It's there you go, folks.
36:36
SPEAKER_00: Get on it, buy the book, help keep these guys on the road making amazing content.
36:42
SPEAKER_00: Now, in terms of content, we just got like there's people out there that wish probably wish to do it, and like anyone, there is, I don't know, uh a block to the confidence or that sort of thing.
36:55
SPEAKER_00: Other than just pick up a camera and do it, what advice do you think help would help them get over that hump and and start doing something?
37:04
SPEAKER_03: It's even probably just practicing.
37:06
SPEAKER_03: Like, um often if I grab my phone, I'll just video something and I'll go look at sometimes you look at it and go, oh, that was really bad.
37:15
SPEAKER_03: Or sometimes I just leave it on my camera roll and I come back a week or two later and went, oh, that's actually really good.
37:21
SPEAKER_03: So don't sort of initially just poo-poo it all and go, no, that that's bad, I didn't like it.
37:27
SPEAKER_03: And it's just practice.
37:29
SPEAKER_03: Like the more you don't even look at the camera, you just talk the the better it is.
37:35
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you do have to learn to talk in front of the camera because you're actually talking to an audience that's not actually there, so you're just talking to the I tell Trina the people, the people want to know.
37:45
SPEAKER_04: So, yeah, and our earlier ones were always a bit nervous, the Sandy owned voice.
37:50
SPEAKER_04: You're like, crap, that's bad.
37:51
SPEAKER_04: Nobody was ever gonna listen to that.
37:53
SPEAKER_04: But you know, as it builds and grows, people come, everybody's different, and which is awesome.
37:59
SPEAKER_03: So and we've met so many followers now that like when we're recording it, we actually just think of them and think that's who we're talking to.
38:07
SPEAKER_03: So, you know, if you think of your best friend and you're just sending them a video, think of it like that, and you know, then go from there.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: That's probably great advice for an introvert like me.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm really shy.
38:20
SPEAKER_03: What you've done here.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: So looking back now, if you know Kane's heart condition hadn't have happened, what would life look like for you guys today, do you think?
38:37
SPEAKER_03: I'd probably still be begging him to go.
38:40
SPEAKER_03: He loved his electrical business and he loved doing it.
38:43
SPEAKER_03: So, but yeah, hopefully not.
38:45
SPEAKER_04: I did say to Trino, my condition actually really started in 1997 with a high arrhythmia.
38:50
SPEAKER_04: I collapsed on a football field, so I got a Dfib, had a lot of shocks over the years, and it's flogged the heart out so it doesn't beat any good, very good anymore, hence why I'm slowing down and puff up like a puff of fish.
39:04
SPEAKER_04: But yeah, so if I never had a heart condition, Trina said I probably wouldn't have been with her, but don't know, I would have been a lot more active and adventurous.
39:13
SPEAKER_04: So I'll be honest, I probably would have followed the same path of what we did.
39:17
SPEAKER_04: It's just I wanted to give our kids as well both worlds, so you can't just travel full-time with them and they don't experience schools or daily friends or sports or dramas or singing or whatever they want to do.
39:29
SPEAKER_04: So once that's done, it's just me and Trina, and travelling without kids is so much easier.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: We love them, but that brings us back to your phrase of stop surviving, start living.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: So, how do they look compared to not doing that?
39:49
SPEAKER_00: Like, where's where's the the tangible difference that people will understand?
39:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I come up with that phrase we'd already been travelling.
39:58
SPEAKER_04: Um I'd had an episode, I was back in Brisbane, they told me I couldn't go anywhere, so I was sitting on my cousin's couch, you know, for they told us there's no more charging.
40:07
SPEAKER_04: They told us that my travelling was done, so and I just end up couch surfing and you just fall into a slumber of despair, you know, there's no get up and go.
40:16
SPEAKER_04: And I said to Trina, I just feel like I'm surviving.
40:19
SPEAKER_04: But what for?
40:20
SPEAKER_04: You know, to die.
40:21
SPEAKER_04: So you sit there and go, well, no, how about we get living?
40:24
SPEAKER_04: How about we just get out there?
40:26
SPEAKER_04: Because if something happens when I'm out there, so be it.
40:28
SPEAKER_04: But at least I'm not sitting on a couch waiting for maybe, maybe not.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
40:35
SPEAKER_00: Well, when you if you stop moving, you're dead.
40:37
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's exactly, and that's what it felt like that you know, our lives had just stopped, and yet, like we've had another two years of travelling since they told us do not travel anymore.
40:49
SPEAKER_03: You're metro people, and um, you know, we've we've just got out there and lived, and it's been amazing.
40:57
SPEAKER_00: Now that that would be the ultimate regret to get to the same destination as if you were staying home and not experiencing it.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: Because I I believe that our day is our day, and what you do between the first day and that last day is everything that matters.
41:17
SPEAKER_00: And so I back you 100% on that.
41:19
SPEAKER_00: I say kudos to it.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: I love that you guys are loving life, and you know, it it should inspire other people.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: You know, we all know people in similar situations, you know, in our friend group and extended friends and relatives, we see people think you just need to pack your gear and get out and and start enjoying life.
41:41
SPEAKER_03: And that's and that's like so Kane at the moment is um gone through another heart transplant assessment, and we're actually hoping this time that he gets on the list because he he needs a new heart, and um everyone says, What are you going to do afterwards?
41:55
SPEAKER_03: And it is a process to recover from a heart transplant, it's a huge operation and that.
42:00
SPEAKER_03: But our our aim is to get back out in the caravan because if we can't, that's not living.
42:06
SPEAKER_04: So I was gonna say part of the assessment is they get psyches in and they talk to me about life and this and happy, yeah, yeah, all this.
42:15
SPEAKER_04: I like to try and stay really positive and just put out there that yes, I'm ready.
42:20
SPEAKER_04: And the thing is, is we have travelled.
42:22
SPEAKER_04: We've had four plus good years of me and Trina travelling in the van, so I don't have regrets.
42:29
SPEAKER_04: I certainly want to keep doing it.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: If you want to be happy, just talk less to doctors, obviously.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: We'll bum you right out.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: It's never it's never good news, is it?
42:39
SPEAKER_03: And they have no idea of traveling and living in a caravan.
42:42
SPEAKER_03: Like they always say, Oh, where's your home?
42:44
SPEAKER_03: And I say, In a caravan.
42:45
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but where are you based?
42:47
SPEAKER_03: Anywhere, wherever we park, and they just they just look at us dumbfounded and they go, No, really?
42:52
SPEAKER_03: And we're like, Yeah, really.
42:54
SPEAKER_04: Wherever we park the vans where we live.
42:56
SPEAKER_01: How many people have you met on the road?
42:58
SPEAKER_01: Because I know when I did my lap, I would have come across probably half a dozen that were had major regrets in their life because they left it all to the later part of their life, run their business to the 65, 70, and then decided to get out there.
43:14
SPEAKER_01: I we met a guy in Broome, his camper trailer and his boat on the top was brand new, and he sold his business, then his wife died, and then he was doing 150 Ks when he moved, travelled, because he couldn't anymore.
43:30
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
43:30
SPEAKER_01: And he just had all these regrets that he wish he did it.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: So I see him all the time.
43:35
SPEAKER_01: And do you do the see the same way?
43:37
SPEAKER_04: Oh we do, we do.
43:38
SPEAKER_04: I've heard of people or friends, I think there was one recently said they've they'd had a bit like um you'd said that they spend all this money, yeah, got everything ready over their two years, and then was it a heart attack or something?
43:52
SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
43:52
SPEAKER_04: That's it.
43:53
SPEAKER_04: You know, it's from sitting there going, Wow, you you put all the effort in to get something to go.
43:58
SPEAKER_04: You never actually went.
44:00
SPEAKER_03: And then there's other ones that we meet that have a lot of health conditions.
44:04
SPEAKER_03: Um, but they're at that pointy end which Kane like is at now when they decide to go.
44:10
SPEAKER_03: And so they can still go and experience stuff, but not to the same point.
44:15
SPEAKER_03: Like when we first left, we hiked down to the southernmost point of Australia, which was a dumb idea, Kane, and then we went to hike to the southernmost point of Tasmania.
44:24
SPEAKER_03: Like he was pushing to do all of these hikes with this heart condition.
44:29
SPEAKER_04: Love my hikes.
44:30
SPEAKER_03: Whereas there's no way he could do that now.
44:31
SPEAKER_03: There's no way.
44:32
SPEAKER_00: So that that's that's the thing, yeah.
44:36
SPEAKER_00: There's no time like the present.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: So for someone who's just discovered you guys today through this podcast, let's tell them again where they can find your content, your books, all that sort of thing.
44:48
SPEAKER_03: Okay, so uh jump on our YouTube, Hapnin' Empty Nesters, but and it's about a year behind, I I will admit that.
44:55
SPEAKER_03: But our socials, Facebook, Instagram, that's all up to date.
44:59
SPEAKER_03: Um always keep that up to date.
45:01
SPEAKER_03: And if you want to uh buy a book or buy any merch, you can jump on our website, or Kane's book is also on Amazon and eKindle.
45:10
SPEAKER_04: As you can see, Trina does all the socials.
45:13
SPEAKER_04: I just write my book on the content.
45:15
SPEAKER_04: I say, on the content, she does all the socials.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: All you Gen Z out there that are going through Game of Thrones withdrawals, get the book.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: Get the book.
45:26
SPEAKER_00: So what's happening next for you guys?
45:28
SPEAKER_04: Well, look, we do have to go back to Brisbane because I've got a few appointments, just follow-up ones from Tess, and then I do have to wait, they've got to have a meeting to discuss putting me on the transplant list, and if I do get on it, what category I am on it, whether it's critical or you know, I've got a bit of time.
45:48
SPEAKER_04: So it's a tough one because these things do alter our plans.
45:52
SPEAKER_04: If I didn't have that, I don't know, I'd jump in with Banksy and we'd travel east to west.
45:58
SPEAKER_03: I was gonna say, and it really depends.
46:00
SPEAKER_03: If they sort of say, you know, we're gonna hold you off for a couple of months before we put you on the list, we'll jump in our caravan and and do a bit more.
46:08
SPEAKER_03: Um, we literally had a week and a half um about a month ago, and we went out to um Cunamulla and did Charlotte's Fains because it was something Kane had never done, and we thought we got some time, let's do it.
46:20
SPEAKER_04: And they said a transplant patients can't go into any water anymore with bacteria, so thermal pools are definitely out.
46:26
SPEAKER_04: So I'm doing all this stuff while I can.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful spot though.
46:31
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it is a magic spot.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: We know we need to find the perfect bubble.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: So if you could leave those people watching today with one thing, what would it be?
46:44
SPEAKER_03: Stop surviving and start living.
46:47
SPEAKER_03: Like get out there, like it's it's worth it.
46:50
SPEAKER_04: It really is.
46:51
SPEAKER_04: That she said my catchphrase, so I've got nothing to say.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: Live live life on their terms is basically it.
46:57
SPEAKER_04: Well, you you get to choose.
46:59
SPEAKER_04: I say there's one thing in life as an individual no one can take from you is a choice to do something.
47:04
SPEAKER_04: It's a choice to get out of bed, it's a choice to have coffee, it's a choice.
47:08
SPEAKER_04: No one can take that away.
47:10
SPEAKER_04: So make that choice to do what you want to do, not what other people think you should do.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, folks, I think that is the best advice you're gonna hear from anyone anywhere today.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: So have a think about it.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: If it is within your means, it's time to really seriously think about it.
47:29
SPEAKER_00: Get over yourself, get over the hump, and start living your life on your terms.
47:36
SPEAKER_00: Don't die with regrets, don't get too old to do it and have regrets.
47:40
SPEAKER_00: Now's the time, spend the inheritance.
47:44
SPEAKER_00: The kids should be able to survive without it.
47:47
SPEAKER_04: That's right.
47:47
SPEAKER_04: Get yourself an MDC camper trailer because or caravan because no issues, magic.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: That's the gate.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: That's even that's great advice as well.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys for coming on.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: It's been an absolute pleasure to get an insight into your life, and thank you for sharing it with everyone.
48:03
SPEAKER_00: It's been really great, and I'm sure everyone's going to be looking forward to to seeing what's next, the on upcoming content, and that sort of thing.
48:10
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for your commitment to that.
48:13
SPEAKER_00: It's been fantastic.
48:14
SPEAKER_00: So, there you go, folks.
48:16
SPEAKER_00: Now there's no excuse.
48:17
SPEAKER_00: You've seen you know, heart conditions, and they're out traveling full time.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: What's your excuse for not doing it?
48:24
SPEAKER_00: So get out there, get yourself a caravan, reliable vehicle, and go and live life where you can.
48:30
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for watching.
48:32
SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to check out all our other content on our YouTube channels, the masterclass, the videos about the caravans and everything else, and the full off grid down under series.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: Thanks again for watching, and we'll see you next time.