Sarah's maternity leave decision resulted in her entire family going 'off grid'

When Sarah and Troy set off for a van trip with their two kids, they had no idea they'd still be going strong two-and-a-half years later.

At the end of December 2020, the couple decided they needed a change of scenery. Within three months, they'd sold their home, bought a caravan, and set off on what was supposed to be a year-long trip.

Now they say they "can't imagine life any other way".

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Sarah told 9Honey that after living through COVID lockdowns, things were really put into perspective: "We knew life was too short to be unhappy."

"I was on maternity leave and Troy's work really started to slow down," she explained.

"After a couple of months really struggling to pay the bills we thought 'stuff it, let's put the house up for sale and see what happens'."

She says living in the van with their two kids, Kai, six, and Kobe, three, is cheaper than living a "normal" life back home.

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"We can go off-grid for a couple of weeks at a time and only spend money on groceries," she explained, adding that they "get the power from the sun and water from free water taps in towns."

"But over the last two years, we have definitely noticed the cost of everything going up," Sarah says.

"Diesel has gone up over $1 per litre. The most we paid for fuel in 2021 was $2.05 at the tip of Australia. Now we're lucky to get it under that price anywhere."

"Groceries and caravan park fees have both gone up a fair bit so we have had to come up with other ways so save."

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The couple are documenting every step of their journey around Australia's 34,000km coastline on their Instagram page, which has encouraged other families to do the same thing.

Sarah and Troy make money on the road by getting work in caravan parks during peak holiday times, when they need more staff.

"We found travelling for a couple of months, and then stopping for a few months was the best way for us to keep this dream alive," they wrote on Instagram, adding that they spent 10 weeks in Esperance and another 8 weeks in Darwin.

In fact, Esperance has been their favourite spot so far.

"We all absolutely loved Esperance. The magnificent beaches are on another level," Sarah said. "There is nothing else like it in Australia.

"We just loved being able to drive 10 minutes out of town, and you're driving on this pristine beach with no one else around. It can't get much better then that for us."

While it's certainly a picture-perfect existence, Sarah says that the reality isn't always so great - as the boys have grown up, some things have become easier while other things are harder.

"The hardest part when they where younger was having to watch them like a hawk 24/7," she said. "Kobe was getting into everything including the toilet and his favourite thing to do was put everything in the bin - we nearly lost the car keys."

"Now they are a bit older they have a bit more freedom and are more self reliant but there is more fighting, and it's tough finding engaging things for them to do."

"Kai is prep age now so schooling is a new challenge," she added.

Sarah says that there are some things that she wished she could go back and tell herself before they started the trip.

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"First, don't stress about the small stuff, everything happens for a reason. The kids will adjust and thrive on the adventure."

She added that she needs to remind herself: "You're doing the right thing."

"Do what makes you happy. You don't need to follow what everyone else is doing."

We also asked Sarah and Troy for their must-have items for van life with kids:

• Coffee machine - we need our coffee in the morning to get our day started well.
• A pegless clothesline and a washing machine - for the endless amount of washing that needs to be done.
• DVD players in the car - to keep the kids entertained on big travel days.
• A small box of toys - we really encourage them to play outside.
• A stocked snack drawer - you need to have the snacks ready for big travel days.
• Baby wipes- you can never have too many, they are multi purpose and can clean up any mess.