Lydia and Wehan were ready to buy a house after travelling Australia. Property prices drove them back to the road

Lydia and Wehan had a plan: travel Australia in a campervan for a few years, save up some money and buy a house.

The Western Australian couple just didn't anticipate just how difficult it would be to tick off all three items on their agenda.

Heading home after four years on the road, they discovered that re-entering the property market was not on the cards.

The solution? Stay on the road, and deck out an old patient transport van for $50,000 instead of a house.

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"We previously had a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Perth, lived in that for probably a few years and then decided to take the leap, sell the house and fit out a van," UK-born Lydia told Nine.com.au.

"We also both had long commutes. It would be an hour train ride for me, leaving in the dark and coming back in the dark.

"And it just didn't feel rewarding or fulfilling, and when we sat down and talked about it, we both said: We want to travel, we want to see more, we want to get out there."

During their multiple laps around Australia in a different campervan, Lydia, 29, and Wehan, 28, ticked off every state and territory while living an impressively frugal lifestyle.

The pair spent around $64 per day, averaging under $2000 per month, during their last 595-day journey.

Most of the bigger expenses – particularly in recent weeks – are related to fuel and van insurance.

At first, they had planned to save enough cash to buy property again.

But that dream was quickly extinguished.

The median house price in the WA capital now sits at about $1.3 million, double what they paid in their early 20s.

Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au

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"When we first set out, we made sure we'd have enough for two years of travel and a house deposit if we want to come back and settle," Lydia said.

"But it was definitely a huge shock, seeing the property prices," Wehan, who was born in South Africa, added.

The travellers agreed they weren't ready for a huge mortgage.

Instead, they decided to buy a former patient transport van owned by the government at an auction in Hobart for $20,220.

Wehan, who has a flair for building and design, then converted the Mercedes Sprinter van into a liveable home, complete with a kitchen benchtop, a double bed, plumbing, a compost toilet, a laundry and a fridge.

In total, the couple spent just over $50,800 on their tiny home on wheels.

A large chunk of that cost included repairs and moving the van from Hobart to the mainland.

"That was the luxury fit-out. You can definitely do it for a lot cheaper," Wehan said.

"We wanted this to be our home base," Lydia added.

"It needed to be comfortable for long-term living. So we have things like a washing machine. We have a computer monitor, a nice big one to work on.

"We made sure we had a really full kitchen so that we wouldn't be limited in cooking."

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They have also designed their careers to fit in with their nomadic lifestyle.

Lydia works remotely in digital marketing, while Wehan works full-time on producing the couple's travel content, which pays for their adventures, groceries, fuel bills and campsite fees.

Life on the road is bliss – but they both agree it may come to an end eventually.

"Our goal is one day to settle in Tasmania," Lydia said, adding that they "fell in love" with the island state on their last visit.

"We have set as kind of a goal three to five years and see how we feel."

However, the couple admits there is no major incentive to return to normal life.

And they say Australia's roads are filled with "not so grey" nomads like themselves who have been locked out of the property market.

"On our second lap, we noticed a lot more younger people who are doing this full time, not just the grey nomads," Lydia said.

"There are a lot more people working on the road, not just remote work, but picking up seasonal work."

Their next lap of Australia will be a "slow" one, with less money spent on fuel and more time spent exploring each carefully-chosen destination.

"This time, it is just us living," Lydia added.

"We're saving quite a bit of money as we go, so it will put us in a good spot."

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