Traveling Around Australia with a Camper Trailer
For most people, taking the big step away from PLANNING your trip around Australia and actually GOING on your trip is a big one. For every person, couple or family actually out there on the road traveling around Australia there is another 5 at home planning their trip.
But why?
In my opinion, it’s two main reasons.
REASON 1: The fear of the unknown. How will I earn money on the road? (Or if you don’t plan on working, have I saved enough money?) Where do I start? When do I end? How long do I go for?
REASON 2: Worried about your setup. Is it adequate enough? Surely you need a big caravan to live on the road and travel Australia full-time?
For the purposes of this article, I’m going to let you answer reason 1 yourself. Reason 2 is why we are here.
Some people only use their camper trailer for long weekends. And there is nothing wrong with that. But I’m here to tell you that YES you can travel Australia long term and still be very comfortable with just your camper trailer. No need for big or expensive caravans.
THE DRIVE
Sure the caravan has a lot of benefits of comfort and ease of setup. Perhaps even some extra storage. But I assure you, there are times when the caravan owners are envious of your smaller, lighter and more simple camper trailer setup.
For one, a camper trailer is a lot lighter, so it’s not only easier to tow, but it also means you will be chewing less fuel. How often do you overtake an old couple towing a caravan at 80km/h in a 100 zone? All the time. It’s not because they are taking in the sights and sounds. It’s because they are saving huge amounts of money by burning less fuel.
I’m not saying that you should buy a camper trailer so you can drive faster. You can just be more relaxed about your fuel bill.
While actually on the road towing, I find the best benefit of the camper trailer is that I can see over the top of it in my rear-vision mirror. No need for big side mirror extensions like caravan owners have. I can see everything happening behind me.
THE SETUP
After a big drive you want to be able to setup as quickly and easy as possible.
A little system that Jazz and I have developed is “the flop out.” If we plan on staying at this location for one night, and plan on leaving early in the morning to get to our destination, then we do a very basic setup we call “the flop out.”
We don’t even wind the leg stabilisers down. And definitely don’t disconnect the car. That’s just wasted time in the morning reconnecting.
We will unclip the camper top, fold it out, and raise only the poles that are absolutely essential to make sure we get a good night sleep. We will unpack only the essentials. Two chairs and some basic gear to cook and eat with. That’s it.
By doing this, we are able to be setup in 5 minutes and ready to go in the morning in 10.
On the flip side, if we plan on staying somewhere for more than 3 nights or so we will do a fairly extensive setup. In these “longer stay” locations, I really enjoy taking the time to setup things properly. It can be a very enjoyable experience once you have a procedure going. Jazz has her jobs and I have mine. If we deviate from the plan it will regularly turn into world war 3.
So once you have your routine sorted, you should enjoy the setup process.
COMFORT
Comfort is perhaps the biggest question mark you have over weather traveling Australia in a Camper Trailer is right for you.
If we start with the bed, I have owned two camper trailers and the bed in both of them have been huge. I’m a fairly big lad and on a cold night, we can end up with the bloody dogs jumping in the bed. And I’ve never complained about having no room in the bed.
We have stayed in caravans before and ALL of them without fail my legs hang over the end. Yes I am tall at just a whisker under 6 foot 4. But still, I shouldn’t have my legs hanging over the end of the bed in a caravan that claims to be queen size.
With general living areas during the day, your individual results may vary depending on what sort of camper trailer you have (soft floor or hard floor). Lucky I have owned both, so I can comment on both.
The soft floor camper was huge when you folded it out. Enough room for a whole family to sleep. And awnings on camper trailers usually come with an annexe you can enclose, creating even more indoor space if you want it.
A hard floor camper will be typically smaller, but it has it’s benefits too. For example, our hard floor camper folds out to reveal a small lounge area with a table. It’s off the ground and very comfortable.
But it’s not even about indoor living is it?
Weather it’s a soft floor camper, a hard floor one, or a caravan, I find I spend almost all my time during the day OUTSIDE. Inside is just for sleeping.
This is where I feel the benefits of traveling around Australia in a camper trailer really shine. A caravan might have a small BBQ outside, but the rest of your cooking needs to be done inside.
With a camper trailer, if you are lucky enough to have a slide out kitchen, it will slide out in your outdoor annexe. For me, outdoor living and cooking is what traveling is all about.
To wrap things up folks, I’m going to tell you what I tell so many people. Basically, you are going to love traveling Australia. Have have not yet met anyone who hasn’t had the best time while doing it.
Weather you are in a $200,000 caravan or a $200 swag, your travels will be as enjoyable as you want them to be. Don’t wait for the “perfect time” to go. You will spend your life planning the trip and never going on it.
