Packing up and Travelling

[woftam]

Sometimes work finds you. We overnighted at Tilmouth Wells in July. Getting our morning coffee before departure I mentioned we weren't currently working. Could have both started there the next day had we been so inclined.
Also have friends who work as RAN's and have partners. It is rare for the partners not to be able to find jobs, even in remote communities.

[mattnanne]

Hi Kunnara,

Here are some things to consider as we have kind of done what you're thinking of doing....

House:
* We rent the house out through an agent as we didn't want the hassle of having to deal with stuff while we are away.  We also changed the mortgage to interest only and this helped with the income more or less matching the expenses. Don't forget you will need to change your insurance cover....

* Must do - Talk to your accountant / financial advisor re the tax implications etc.

Work:
* There is a good site called 'Workabout Australia'  - workaboutaustralia.com.au - that is well worth having a look at.
* If you pre-arrange work and need to travel to get there you can claim some of the expenses (as long as you keep records etc).
(Ban Tacs - bantacs.com.au - explains)

Keeping stuff:
* Looking back, we should have got rid of a lot more stuff than we did - we still have a shipping container full that is just sitting there while we are at the other end of the country and have been for 3 years!

Cost:
* I have a spreadsheet for all expenses that has been going now for 4 years.  I can now confidently know how much it costs us to live per month.  Another way to keep track of how much you spend is to charge as much as you can to a credit card (and pay it off by the due date each month to avoid interest).

Last but not least - go for it while you can - yes, it is a bit scary stepping out of the comfort zone, but if you enjoy seeing and experiencing new things it's the best.

Hope this helps a little and keep talking and start planning ( it took us 12 weeks to resign from our jobs (I had mine for 16 years!), pack up the house and take off)) - best thing we ever did.

Will stop now, but there is heaps more if you're interested - just keep asking.....

Cheers
Anne

[vicandug]

Hi Kunnara,

Here are some things to consider as we have kind of done what you're thinking of doing....

House:
* We rent the house out through an agent as we didn't want the hassle of having to deal with stuff while we are away.  We also changed the mortgage to interest only and this helped with the income more or less matching the expenses. Don't forget you will need to change your insurance cover....

* Must do - Talk to your accountant / financial advisor re the tax implications etc.

Work:
* There is a good site called 'Workabout Australia'  - workaboutaustralia.com.au - that is well worth having a look at.
* If you pre-arrange work and need to travel to get there you can claim some of the expenses (as long as you keep records etc).
(Ban Tacs - bantacs.com.au - explains)

Keeping stuff:
* Looking back, we should have got rid of a lot more stuff than we did - we still have a shipping container full that is just sitting there while we are at the other end of the country and have been for 3 years!

Cost:
* I have a spreadsheet for all expenses that has been going now for 4 years.  I can now confidently know how much it costs us to live per month.  Another way to keep track of how much you spend is to charge as much as you can to a credit card (and pay it off by the due date each month to avoid interest).

Last but not least - go for it while you can - yes, it is a bit scary stepping out of the comfort zone, but if you enjoy seeing and experiencing new things it's the best.

Hope this helps a little and keep talking and start planning ( it took us 12 weeks to resign from our jobs (I had mine for 16 years!), pack up the house and take off)) - best thing we ever did.

Will stop now, but there is heaps more if you're interested - just keep asking.....

Cheers
Anne

WOW thanks Anne.  I am after lots of info as well. I am in the same situation as Kunnara.  We have been think about it for years abut keep putting it off (mostly because I am scared)
Roughly how much do you think is a liveable amt for a month?  We are looking at renting the house but have to fix a few things first and part of our mortgage is fixed until 2017.  I'm hoping we will be able to work around that though.
 
Vicki

[petrolburner]

Being in the nursing field your wife should be able to contact a locum agency and find plenty of work at hourly rates usually higher than permanent fulltime work.

In fact a lot of places you might want to go would fall over themselves to hey a nurse!!

I am not a nurse but work in medical imaging and locum agencies are often bugging me with short term roles in remote places that usually include flights,  accommodation and a car while there.

Last locum I did was in a regional city and I scored a serviced two bedroom apartment as well as a very generous hourly rate.

My wife and I are also planning on packing up the kids and travelling. I will try and pick up some 4 week locum contracts on the way to give the family a chance to recharge the batteries in a real house occasionally along the way as well as keep the bank balance out of the red!

[Redcherokee]

This is when I am jealous of those with widely needed skills.  Not many country towns need someone to design and implement a nation wide enterprise IT network, need a bit of Oracle programming done,  or are crying out for an expert to write them a knowledge management strategy.

Sigh. I know I can learn to do anything, but oddly enough most people aren't willing to pay you to learn.

[edz]

^^^^^  They will if you put in for work on a station, can you drive ? yep get in that old toyota and go do the mustering or the  bore run / fix fences and count the cattle around the turkeys nests [ cattle watering points ]  .. hang around the workshop and you'll soon be armpits deep into fixing things with the station mechenic or if you can cook .. just got to be willing to have a go ..
You soon pick it up .. Mostly Its hot dirty long days working usualy 6 days a week, up before the sun and finishing after its  set, Accomodation and tucker included /  paying the lowest tax rates in the country ..
But it puts you into some places that very few people will ever get to see .. And when the muster is over all those bucks you saved gets you off on the next adventure .   
 

[Whistler]

My wife is a nurse and I'm a Joiner by trade as well as a Master5 MED3 in maritime. We hit the road
7-1/2 years ago. We are also from the south coast of NSW. We have NEVER been out of work (by choice)since we left. There is a heap of work out there. In remote areas your wife will also get free accommodation  for the both of you. Get her to register with a Nursing Agency or two and they will be shooting jobs at her left-right and centre.
  I have had Dozens of different jobs and loved every one of them. The best one, part of the job was being dropped in by chopper and raiding Crocodile nests of their eggs. Loved it. We are still at it and having a fantastic time.

Whistler

[vicandug]

I work in Childcare but worked in offices for years.  Do you think there is much work out there for either?

Hubby is a carpenter so I know that he can find work.

[Kunnara]

Thanks for all the reply's and it seems that there is plenty of work if you want it..It would be good if those that have reply'd and are out there doing it could put an age bracket in there posts, more so for my own piece of mind than anything else as it seems the older you get the less employable you are..

Cheers...

[Whistler]

I work in Childcare but worked in offices for years.  Do you think there is much work out there for either?

Hubby is a carpenter so I know that he can find work.

If you want the work you will get it. Do not expect above award, you have to look at the benefits that go with the job. Be prepared to try something outside your comfort zone, you will surprise yourself. If your fit and mobile anything is on the cards.
  Kunnara I'm 59 and the good woman is 60
   Whistler

[McGirr]

A young 54 and the misses is 41 shortly.

Mark

[lilstookie]

There is SOOOOOOO much work out there, most unadvertised. We packed up and left three years ago with two young kids, no debt, $5000 savings and no idea what we were in for. We now find we're offered work once we start talking to people. If you are considering working as you travel, look into making your tax work for you. We use www.bantacs.com.au and have found them to be great. They also have a heap of free info on their site.

We like station work. It's hard and the pay isn't fantastic, but the package works out well for our (now) family of five We have house, all food, power, water and (crappy) internet included. We don't drink (much ) or smoke and save virtually everything we earn. I keep all our receipts and claim everything I possibly can. It's seasonal work so we work 6m and travel the rest of the year.

Look at caretaking/farm or station sitting, WWOOFing, volunteering, harvest (includes picking, packing, heavy machinery, etc), station work (includes boreman, grader/heavy machinery, mechanic, gardener, cook, educator, Girl Friday, admin, general station hand, handyman, etc.), road crews, caravan park/motel cleaners....the list is endless and where there's a will, there's a way . Word of mouth (post office, noticeboards, the pub, general store, etc.), Gumtree, usual job sites, FB pages for specific areas, grey nomads jobs....

I've been putting jobs up on our FB page to help current travellers and to inspire others that are nervous to take the leap....it's the scariest thing we ever did, but we're so glad we did!

https://www.facebook.com/TheWanderingJocks/events?ref=page_internal

vicandug, there is a desperate need for good Governesses and Nannies in rural and remote areas. Gumtree has an array of admin (and plenty of other) type jobs too.

Kunnara, we were mid 30s when we left. A lot of employers like the maturity of older people. We thought we'd be undesirable as we have young kids (even added one almost two years ago), a dog and a camper (not a caravan) and came from retail backgrounds. How wrong we were!!

JFDI!!!

Lil

[chester ver2.0]

as above be really hard and gut your stuff to go into storage

We had a container full in storage for 4 years and out of the 60 odd boxes unpacked 28 were either chucked or given to the salvos

No matter how good you wrap it stuff like lounges mattress etc even clothes will not get that musty smell out after 4 years so this is a lot of the stuff we should have gotton rid of at the start