Doing a lap, a road trip, taking a few months, weeks or just a bit of a break to explore this amazing country is an incredible opportunity. There are so many places to explore and amazing experiences to have, you could keep going your entire
life and still not see everything. However, there is something else that has been completely unexpected for me. Something that, I think, has that has been one of the best things about the lifestyle as a ‘travelling family’, or collectively known as
‘TAWK’ families (travelling Australia with kids), and that’s the incredible friends and bonds that are formed.
There are now huge numbers of families who have packed up their lives for a nomadic lifestyle. You just have to jump onto any social media platform to see all the incredible photographic evidence, and its through these platforms too that many people connect. It’s not unusual to pull into a town or region and already know of several families who are camped
nearby, and those you don’t already know, your children will ensure you know by nightfall. There is a theory that as an adult its difficult to make new friends, not so when you are on the road. Most people are out for the same reason, to explore and to make memories, but its not just other families that we, and most other families connect with. The other over represented travelers around the country are of course, the grey nomads. In the two and a half years that we have been ‘on the road’ our children have collected multiple set of pseudo grandparents who adore our children and continue to keep in touch with them.
I have loved watching these relationships develop over simple things like feeding birds, or watching a sunset together, and of course the time we spend on work stops in various places means that we also have opportunities to connect with locals. I can honestly say that some of my now closest friends are those that I have met since we’ve been travelling.
The single hardest thing about forming these bonds, is the inevitable good-byes as someone moves on with their travels.
But then its never really good-bye, it’s just see ya later.
You’ve got a friend in me
Written by Kelly Gudgeon