Can you share a bit about your background and what inspired you to become a full-time traveller?
Jay is a Diesel Mechanic, Dani works for No Pong Natural Deodorant, we have 2 incredible boys, Bohdi and Alby. For us it’s a classic cliche of life is just too short. In 2021, Dani’s Mum who was 53yrs died after a 9 month fight with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma. That, along with the challenges we faced with schooling our youngest, both our boys have Autism and while we know how amazing they are, socialising and education have been a challenge so we decided to pack it all up and get out of the daily grind and back into our control. We made the brave decision to buy a caravan, school the boys with distance education, throwing a spanner in our boys routines and help them through the challenges, because if there is anything we have learnt it’s that “nothing good happens inside your comfort zone.” What we have found is that we have made countless life long memories, friends in all corners of Australia and have done so by working on the road as we go. Dani is grateful to be in a position to be able to work, while Jay and the boys do school, once we clock off for the day, it’s time for an adventure. Not something we love to boast about, but there is so many feelings of gratitude and appreciation when you can clock off and jump straight into your swimmers and out onto the reef of the Ningaloo. It’s certainly been one of the many highlights of working on the road and one of the many reason why we have chosen to be a full time travelling family.
How do you balance work and travel on the road? Any productivity tips for those considering a similar lifestyle?
Ooo this is a tricky one, specially with Dani’s job. I think the best tool you can have is communication and mindset. For us, our mindset was, this wasn’t a holiday, it was a lifestyle. Dani found she did find she had moments of FOMO, but she absolutely loves what she does and always feels, she has the best of both worlds, loving her dream job while having a different office every couple of days around Australia, meeting so many different people. But the biggest things for us is communicating with each other, everything from when online meetings are scheduled to travel times between different location and leaving a little bit of extra time. It took us a bit to do this well. Haha and we still have days where work runs late and you grab a cheese platter for dinner instead of cooking and that’s okay… actually, it’s more than okay when you live on the road.
What type of work do you do while travelling, and how did you transition to a remote or mobile career?
I’ve work remotely for No Pong for the last 5 years. I’m grateful that travelling has actually became more beneficial for my career as Jay has the time to spend with the boys and become more of the primary care.
Can you highlight some of your favourite destinations and memorable experiences from your travels?
We have so many memories tied to every single place but the sunsets on the beach with friends have to be our fav memories. Followed by the incredible animal encounters from snakes, sea lions, turtles, blue spotted rays and whale sharks and many more. We loved all the hikes and gorges and conversations that were sparked. Mostly music tie up to the moments that we will remember for ever. If we had to pick our must see’s they would be: Peninsula’s in SA, Lucky Bay WA, Ningaloo WA, Kalbarri WA, Broome WA, Dampier WA, the Gibb River Road WA, Litchfield National Park NT. Haha we stayed an unexpected amount of time up in the Dampier Peninsula, if you ask some of our mates where we are now, they will say “Oh the Ollie’s? Aren’t they still lost up in the Dampier somewhere”
Have you faced any challenges working on the road, and how did you overcome them?
Only challenge was when our Starlink was surrounded by trees. This only happened once in Broome, lucky for 5G but it was a challenge. Other than that, it was epic. Timezone could have been a challenge as my team works on SYD time but we found it awesome in WA!
What essential items or tools do you carry with you to make working while travelling more efficient?
Air Pods! Dani couldn’t live or work without them. Blocks the world out when kids are being kids. Other than that, it’s just a MacBook Pro, and an iPad. Second screen to come.
Are there specific destinations that have been particularly conducive to your work and offered a unique working environment?
Travelling around Australia has bought some unique opportunities for Dani, she has been able to meet with stockists and also with customers while in the NT to film a couple of rounds of television advertisements.
How do you stay connected with your community and maintain a support system while constantly on the move?
We check in with our family often by phone, mostly with Jays Mum and Dani’s Nan and our close friends. We miss what’s going in their Iives and this keeps us feeling close. Other than that, our other family and friends can see where we are at on our socials. It’s a special thing to be apart of the travelling community, people helped us out and in turn we pass it on and help others too. Best part is, it’s great for seeing where others had visited when you hadn’t had a chance to research the area. Mostly it was so nice to see a friendly face on the road. We never felt alone… not even on the Nullabour!
What advice do you have for individuals who are considering a full-time travelling lifestyle but are hesitant to take the plunge?
Oh we don’t have any advice except, you do you! One thing we will say, is if you want it, you can do. You don’t need anything fancy, there are all types of setups and bigger ain’t better, as Matthew MacConaughey says “you just gotta keep living man, L.I.V.I.N” For Jay, the thought of being stuck at home, doing the same job everyday was scarier for him than to live on the road each and everyday. For Dani, she wanted to find the balance, she loved being with the boys but didn’t want to give up her dream job. If they stayed home, with our little one not being able to attend school, she would have been forced into having to give it up and teach him, and even then, is one wage enough to pay the mortgage and survive the current financial crisis we are in. We still currently have our home being rented out but we don’t know how much longer we can keep it. For Bohdi, he loves school and socialising. Travelling has been great for him but he would be happy to go back home and see all his friends. (He also knows that he wouldn’t have made all his incredible new friends either though) For Alby, he loves what we are doing and is not keen to return home, he gets to explore barefoot and free, while learning about the environment and all kind of animals and critters. His soul is definitely still lost in the Dampier. So for us, right now, the road is the decision, and what an epic decision it is! Until we open another door! Sometimes a door will appear that we didn’t even know we wanted. We love it, we don’t want it to end, we can highly recommend it!
Can you share a funny or unexpected anecdote from your travels that stands out in your memory?
Haha once again there are a few but the one that stands out the most was prob the rookiest thing we did at the start of our trip. Completely green and boy did we panic. Our 12volt power completely turned off one day and we panicked, checking all the technical spots we could have, had a call with the previous owners who are amazing “have you checked to see the switch near the door hasn’t been flicked off” one of our kids had flicked the switch not knowing what it was! The other was a day we do not speak of, lol it was an exceptional early morning wake up on Wauraltee Beach where we thought the tide was going to come right up. Positive side was afterwards we all got to have a cuppa and watch the sunrise.
Connect with this wonderful family on Instagram @olliesonodyssey
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