5 Tips for Embracing the Caravanning Lifestyle
With a caravan as your home, you can chalk out your itinerary, travel at your own pace, and live a life full of adventures.
Caravanning allows you to strike a perfect balance between adventure and comfort since you can choose new ventures daily while carrying your cozy quarters!
In 2021, over 3.5 million domestic caravans and camping trips were made in New South Wales. Closely followed by Victoria and Queensland with 3 and 2.8 million domestic trips, respectively.
As thrilling and incredible as it sounds, adapting to this lifestyle is difficult. So, let’s dive right in for some tips!
Plan a budget and stick to it.
Before anything else, you must make a realistic and practical budget. You’d figure the Caravanning lifestyle is cheaper than a settled life (house rent or mortgage). However, that does not indicate that you no longer have to worry about budgeting.
Start by listing all the expenses you will have in your new lifestyle. These include daily site fees, fuel, groceries, clothing, healthcare, and toll fees.
After calculating the cost, add 25% to the amount. This will help you deal with unexpected expenses, price inflation, and other emergencies.
Once you understand the financial costs involved in this life, you can make informed decisions regarding activities, part-time work, and destinations.
Choose the right ‘house on wheels.
Just like you would not buy just any house, you should maintain the same discretion for your caravan. You need to check for many factors before starting your nomadic lifestyle.
Consider the needs of your caravanning partners. Keep in mind that not everything will be available to you at all times. So, it would help if you were prepared for better or worse.
Check how comfortable the sleeping arrangements are or how well-equipped the kitchen is. However, your safety should be your top priority.
Choose a good caravan that will cater to all your needs. For instance, Lotus Caravans is a great option when you want to venture out for your sense of adventure but also tackle the ‘great outdoors’!
Drive to keep your expenses down.
There’s nothing wrong with taking the road of beauty now and then. It might not be ideal for you always to take the ‘scenic’ route.
The wiser option for you will be to drive economically. Despite all the sense of adventure and thrill, you need to try and keep your expenses down.
You can do this by opting for a route that will minimize backtracking and going off the road as much as possible. There are other ways that you can adopt to drive economically.
These include driving short distances, maintaining a consistent speed, or avoiding routes with too many hills. Use coupons, cards, or credit points to fill your fuel, saving you money.
Choose to be minimalistic.
To merge with the caravanning lifestyle, you must have a minimalistic approach. Remember, traveling around with a heavy load of possessions will be considerably more expensive and complicated. So, don’t stuff your caravan with unnecessary objects.
Allocate and spend money on fuel, food, clothing, hygiene products, toll charges, etc. On the other hand, avoid spending on expensive souvenirs, décor items, or expensive restaurants.
Home-sit for friends and family occasionally
Even if you love the nomadic lifestyle, you may miss certain aspects of your settled life from time to time. You might miss a long, relaxing hot bath, a soft, spacious bed, or even an airier living area.
Thus, to temporarily enjoy those aspects of your previous life, offer to babysit your friends and family when they’re away. It will let you enjoy a slight change of surroundings, enjoy your old ways, and maybe even make a few bucks.
Leave your comfort zone behind and explore
If you’re choosing the caravanning lifestyle, then it is all about stepping out of your comfort zone. Take this as your opportunity to venture out and explore unknown places.
One of the best things about this lifestyle is that you can travel at your own pace. Use this to your benefit and explore all the places on your list. You can flexibly change your itinerary daily and indulge in spontaneous and unique experiences.
Plan your route.
One thing that you should always do is plan your route each day in advance. Another key pointer is to be prepared for unexpected detours.
So, map out more than one way to your destination or a backup stop if there is a problem. Double-check on road conditions and expected weather to ensure a hassle-free journey.
Always carry emergency necessities, including toolkits, first-aid, spare tires, etc. It’s best to stay prepared for unforeseen situations when you’re on the road.
There are certain times of the day when it would be best for you not to drive, like peak traffic hours and night time.
Be mindful of where you park
Be very mindful of where you park to call it a day. If you’re unaware, scan the place and ask around a little to get an idea about the locality.
Always park in a safe location and consider your surrounding area. It is better to reach the parking spot before it gets dark to judge the space carefully for dangers and problems.
Opt for seasonal or remote work.
If you opt for this lifestyle, it does not mean that you must give up on making money. Modern times have a lot of offers for you to make the most out of even a nomadic lifestyle.
You can opt for seasonal work such as picking fruits and vegetables for a far, working during the rush season at theme parks, or part-time shifts at stores and diners.
In today’s day and age, you can also work remotely on a laptop. Especially after covid-19, significant companies and even small businesses offer remote jobs you can work on from anywhere.
Wrap It Up!
You can’t embrace the caravanning lifestyle overnight. It takes a good while and a lot of effort to deal with the fantastic ups and downs. It can be pretty daunting, especially for first-timers. Thus, follow these tips if you’re unsure of where to start.
5 Tips for Embracing the Caravanning Lifestyle
With a caravan as your home, you can chalk out your itinerary, travel at your own pace, and live a life full of adventures.
Caravanning allows you to strike a perfect balance between adventure and comfort since you can choose new ventures daily while carrying your cozy quarters!
In 2021, over 3.5 million domestic caravans and camping trips were made in New South Wales. Closely followed by Victoria and Queensland with 3 and 2.8 million domestic trips, respectively.
As thrilling and incredible as it sounds, adapting to this lifestyle is difficult. So, let’s dive right in for some tips!
Plan a budget and stick to it.
Before anything else, you must make a realistic and practical budget. You’d figure the Caravanning lifestyle is cheaper than a settled life (house rent or mortgage). However, that does not indicate that you no longer have to worry about budgeting.
Start by listing all the expenses you will have in your new lifestyle. These include daily site fees, fuel, groceries, clothing, healthcare, and toll fees.
After calculating the cost, add 25% to the amount. This will help you deal with unexpected expenses, price inflation, and other emergencies.
Once you understand the financial costs involved in this life, you can make informed decisions regarding activities, part-time work, and destinations.
Choose the right ‘house on wheels.
Just like you would not buy just any house, you should maintain the same discretion for your caravan. You need to check for many factors before starting your nomadic lifestyle.
Consider the needs of your caravanning partners. Keep in mind that not everything will be available to you at all times. So, it would help if you were prepared for better or worse.
Check how comfortable the sleeping arrangements are or how well-equipped the kitchen is. However, your safety should be your top priority.
Choose a good caravan that will cater to all your needs. For instance, Lotus Caravans is a great option when you want to venture out for your sense of adventure but also tackle the ‘great outdoors’!
Drive to keep your expenses down.
There’s nothing wrong with taking the road of beauty now and then. It might not be ideal for you always to take the ‘scenic’ route.
The wiser option for you will be to drive economically. Despite all the sense of adventure and thrill, you need to try and keep your expenses down.
You can do this by opting for a route that will minimize backtracking and going off the road as much as possible. There are other ways that you can adopt to drive economically.
These include driving short distances, maintaining a consistent speed, or avoiding routes with too many hills. Use coupons, cards, or credit points to fill your fuel, saving you money.
Choose to be minimalistic.
To merge with the caravanning lifestyle, you must have a minimalistic approach. Remember, traveling around with a heavy load of possessions will be considerably more expensive and complicated. So, don’t stuff your caravan with unnecessary objects.
Allocate and spend money on fuel, food, clothing, hygiene products, toll charges, etc. On the other hand, avoid spending on expensive souvenirs, décor items, or expensive restaurants.
Home-sit for friends and family occasionally
Even if you love the nomadic lifestyle, you may miss certain aspects of your settled life from time to time. You might miss a long, relaxing hot bath, a soft, spacious bed, or even an airier living area.
Thus, to temporarily enjoy those aspects of your previous life, offer to babysit your friends and family when they’re away. It will let you enjoy a slight change of surroundings, enjoy your old ways, and maybe even make a few bucks.
Leave your comfort zone behind and explore
If you’re choosing the caravanning lifestyle, then it is all about stepping out of your comfort zone. Take this as your opportunity to venture out and explore unknown places.
One of the best things about this lifestyle is that you can travel at your own pace. Use this to your benefit and explore all the places on your list. You can flexibly change your itinerary daily and indulge in spontaneous and unique experiences.
Plan your route.
One thing that you should always do is plan your route each day in advance. Another key pointer is to be prepared for unexpected detours.
So, map out more than one way to your destination or a backup stop if there is a problem. Double-check on road conditions and expected weather to ensure a hassle-free journey.
Always carry emergency necessities, including toolkits, first-aid, spare tires, etc. It’s best to stay prepared for unforeseen situations when you’re on the road.
There are certain times of the day when it would be best for you not to drive, like peak traffic hours and night time.
Be mindful of where you park
Be very mindful of where you park to call it a day. If you’re unaware, scan the place and ask around a little to get an idea about the locality.
Always park in a safe location and consider your surrounding area. It is better to reach the parking spot before it gets dark to judge the space carefully for dangers and problems.
Opt for seasonal or remote work.
If you opt for this lifestyle, it does not mean that you must give up on making money. Modern times have a lot of offers for you to make the most out of even a nomadic lifestyle.
You can opt for seasonal work such as picking fruits and vegetables for a far, working during the rush season at theme parks, or part-time shifts at stores and diners.
In today’s day and age, you can also work remotely on a laptop. Especially after covid-19, significant companies and even small businesses offer remote jobs you can work on from anywhere.
Wrap It Up!
You can’t embrace the caravanning lifestyle overnight. It takes a good while and a lot of effort to deal with the fantastic ups and downs. It can be pretty daunting, especially for first-timers. Thus, follow these tips if you’re unsure of where to start.
