In this blog, Jess and Andy from Round and Round Coffee have been on the road for almost a year and are now sharing some of the most important things they have learned in that time!
- Solar! Gees I wish we’d installed some solar. Idiots. All that sun and nope! If only we could to turn back time. We saw it as an expensive upfront cost that we could get by without but alas, biggest regret. We run a second battery, however this will only run our fridge for about a day or two before needing a charge up again (by driving). The amount of food wastage this has caused has been ridiculous. Also for charging devices, we’ve quite often had to have the car running for Andy to do his design work from the laptop.
- Fridge space. We love to eat and love doing a big weekly Aldi shop, but then struggle to fit everything in and keep cold. In hindsight, I wish we had gotten a slightly bigger Waeco and a bigger esky. One tip we would like to share is instead of buying bags of ice, fill up 2L milk containers with drinking water, freeze them, (in our case it was in caravan park freezers) but your Waeco or Engel could do it for you, then use them in the esky rather than ice. Not only will they stay colder longer, they won’t cause the food to go soggy in water and you can drink the water when it thaws out! Genius!
- Slow down and get off the beaten track. Take in your surroundings. It’s funny, when planning our trip we thought we’d love all the beaches and coastal attractions, which we did, however we’ve now preferred heading inland and experiencing small towns and less populated places in the bush and outback. Keep a journal or write blogs. It’s a great way to reflect on what an amazing thing you’re doing and you will learn a lot about yourself.
- Give yourself some space/timeout from each other. Andy and I make a great team, however on our whole trip we’ve only spent one night apart! This trip has tested our relationship but we are better for it. It’s good to miss one another and appreciate how lucky we are to have each other.
- Service your car and check regularly. Especially if it’s a 1983 model. Yes we’ve had a few car troubles, which could have been avoided if we put the old girl in for a few more services, but hey all things considered, we’re pretty proud of her 23,000 km journey thus far.
- Think about your environmental footprint. Avoid buying plastic water bottles. Plenty of places allow you to fill up with drinking water. Usually visitor’s centers are great for this, or stock up in caravan parks. Get yourself some good insulated water bottles for the car/camp. If you love to buy coffees, take a keep cup or similar. Most cafes will also discount this if you BYO. Don’t litter the bush with toilet paper! This drives us mad when we pull into a beautiful campsite and it’s littered with Kleenex daisies! Be responsible. Use the correct bins. The amount of times we’ve watched people contaminate recycling bins blows our minds. Plastic bags don’t go in recycle bins! If you’re unsure, ask or read what’s written on the bins. We found Queensland to be the worst state for recycling, with a lot of places not even offering a recycling bin, this made us angry.
- You can only control so much. Your comfort zone can be expanded. A lot of people desire security, safety and predictability and think that’s the secret to a happy life. I’ve discovered that’s not the case. I prefer adventure, unpredictability, randomness and feel it’s a much more interesting way to live. Dealing with unforeseen circumstances builds character and resilience.
- WIFI is bad everywhere! Get a good data deal with your provider. We use Boost mobile then tether devices off our iPad hotspot. There are also some good products on the market like RV WIFI. Libraries can be good, however usually have data limits.
So there you have it. I hope this has helped with the planning of your trip or given you some good ideas to get the most out of your adventure! Happy travels all.
–Jess and Andy
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