We are a happily married couple who met in 2017 and wed in 2019. We met when Nicole wanted to overcome her fear of motorbikes, while Michael just happened to be a motorbike instructor on the Gold Coast. We each have three children; they are all adults.

We started our travelling journey with a move to Cairns for Nicole to begin a new job in 2021. Our subsequent moves to Innisfail and Mackay presented challenges. The high humidity and prevalent mould in Innisfail impacted our health, while the housing shortage in Mackay made finding suitable rentals a struggle.

The demanding cycle of rental applications, paperwork, and extensive cleaning at the end of each lease proved both burdensome and exhausting. This prompted us to acquire a caravan, freeing ourselves from the constraints of the traditional housing market.

We also realised that we preferred a more nomadic lifestyle, exploring different regions for shorter durations. A three-month timeframe emerged as an ideal period to immerse ourselves in each location while maintaining the flexibility to continue our journey of exploration.

In September 2024, the decision was made to upgrade from our current 20.5 ft caravan to a 12.5m bus. With Michael working from home, the caravan was not big enough to allow us to be able to relax. The bus that we purchased still had the seats in it, so it was a big job. The first big rain identified the extent of the leaks and revealed exactly what we were in for. Nicole had just lost her father to Parkinson’s and needed a bit of time off work to do some soul searching. In January 2025, we parked the bus at a friend’s place in Croftby. We would work in Toowoomba and drive back and forth each weekend. We started to live in the bus, Doris, in March 2025 when we moved to the Douglas Shire for 6 months.