6 Inspiring Life lessons Learned From The Big Lap of Australia

Unfortunately our life on the road as young nomads has come to an end.
It may sound cliché but experiencing Australia from the road has taught this young couple a thing or two about life, love and work life balance.
Here we share the invaluable life lessons learned from travelling around the country and how we have applied these learnings to our life in the big smoke upon our return.

Don’t leave things for tomorrow

When we set our sights on a big lap we first thought it was an impossible dream that surely would have to wait until retirement. Don’t let your inner anxieties put off your plans to travel around the country; for us taking real action to move towards our goals bit by bit everyday such as planning and saving our hard earned pennies was the only way to make it happen.

There is no need to rush

Life moves at a slower pace when you’re a nomad; there’s no pressure to be anywhere by a certain time with no set daily commitments.
Now we are back and doing the 9-5 we’re focusing on how we can best ‘get the job done’ without stressing or getting caught up in the city hustle and bustle. So far this has meant going for walks in the park before work, having ‘happy hour’ when we return home and simply enjoying life’s little pleasures like lazy Sundays spent with family.

Family and friends are important

When you are surrounded by the same people day in day out, it’s easy to take them for granted. Being away for almost a full year gave us a chance to truly appreciate our loved ones and the value they bring to our lives.
Now we are making more of an effort to plan regular catch ups such as camping trips and are looking forward to sharing special moments with our family and friends in 2016 with our own wedding!

You are never really alone

The thought of travelling to remote outback locations at first was daunting as we believed we would be completely isolated with no one else to talk to or ask for help if we got in a sticky situation. But in reality we found that no matter where we were in Australia if we were friendly and simply said ‘G’day’ there was always someone ready to have a chat or give us a hand in tricky times.
We are trying hard to spread this country charm in the big smoke by smiling at people on the train, having a chat with our neighbours and just generally being more observant of others.

You can survive with less

When you spend 10 months in a 14 foot caravan where storage space comes at a premium, you realise how much junk you filled the available space in your house with.
On our return we felt overwhelmed by the amount of ‘stuff’ we had in storage we did not need.
We felt much better sending this stuff off to a local op shop than having it clutter up our lives as the excess material items in our lives are not the source of our happiness.

 

Australia is an incredibly vast country with so much to offer

Our final lesson arrived in the form of realization – the realization that this country is so vast with so much variation in the experiences on offer.
While we are not planning on another “big lap” anytime soon, regular travel over the weekends or small holidays is a must.
We have vowed to spend every chance we can get continuing to explore the raw beauty Australia has to offer even if it’s only one place at a time.
Next on the list – The Flinders Ranges!