14/07/2017
💥18 MONTHS ON THE ROAD💥
OK, this is it, the big one. Here you'll find absolutely ALL our expenses after 18 months on the road. Brace yourselves, this is gunna be huge.
547 nights traveling in a Cub Campers camper trailer
Free: 294 nights (incl. 97 in staff accommodation, 75 with family/friends and 34 paid for by insurance after we crashed our camper trailer)
Caravan Parks: 155 nights (approx half of which have been when we're stopped and working)
Low cost alternatives/national parks: 88 nights
B&B: 1 nights (birthday treat)
Cabin: 7 nights
Seaworld Resort: 2 nights (sometimes you need a holiday 😉)
Number of times we've set up the camper trailer: 118
Accommodation cost: $73/week
Approx. 38,200kms driven in a 2010 Mitsubishi Triton
4074 litres of fuel
Fuel economy 16-17L/100km
Full diesel cost $101/wk but we've had a bit covered by work so the cost to us has only been $77/wk.
Payments to mechanics: $58/wk
Plus additional big car costs (new turbo, new tyres, new exhaust, new batteries): $63/wk
Plus general car and trailer maintenance: $43/wk
= a total of $164/wk (one of our biggest expenses!)
Car & trailer insurance/rego: $53/wk
Upgrades to our car/trailer (things like a toilet, shower, battery monitirs, water meters, fans, diesel heater, solar panels etc): $59/wk
Groceries for 2 adults + 1 child: $147/wk
Meals out (incl. Coffees, bakeries, maccas & pubs): $50/wk
Booze: surprisingly low at $21/wk
Entertainment (incl. Entry fees, movies, and daycare days when we're stopped to work): $28/wk
Mobile phones/sat phone/Internet: $36/wk
Health insurance + other health expenses (incl. 2 x surgeries in the private system towards the start of our trip + assoc specialist fees, general GP visits, pharmacy costs): $102/wk
Presents home (birthdays, weddings, births): $37/wk
Laundry: $3.80/wk (we do a lot of hand washing when we're traveling and often have access to a washing machine when we're stopped to work)
Renee work expenses (registration, union fees, professional development): $40/wk
'Other' items that don't fall into the above categories like ferrys (moreton, fraser, jardine river, daintree), clothes, 2 x new phones, flights home etc: $76/wk
Total cost of all the above: approx $960/wk
(Take of modify what you think will be similar or different for you, and you should have a good guideline of what it might cost you to live on the road!)
No of states/territories: 5
78 weeks
Places worked (Nursing):
Warwick, Queensland (4 weeks)
Innisfail, Queensland (6 weeks)
Atherton, Queensland, Australia (4 weeks)
Julia Creek, Queensland (4 weeks)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (6 weeks part time when we flew home for Christmas)
Cunnamulla, Queensland, Australia (7 weeks)
Wellington, New South Wales (4 weeks)
and about to start 3 weeks in Charleville, Queensland, Australia.
No of weeks left: who knows?
No of daycares attended by Ryan: 6
No of other families met on the road: heaps! But not as many as we thought we would.
No of car accidents: 1 (bloody Sydney!)
No of insurance claims: 3!!! All in the last few months
No of new camper trailers: 1 as a result of said accident (and we hope to keep this one for many years to come!)
Speeding fines: 1 (in Brisbane)
Parking tickets: 1 (in Sydney)
Kangaroos hit: 1
No of times called RACQ: well and truly lost count
No of tow trucks: 2
Total experience: priceless 🖒
