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After spending four years traversing the open road, the couple realized that buying a home was far from feasible.
Instead, they opted for an unconventional lifestyle: transforming an old patient transport van into a mobile home for $50,000.
“We both faced lengthy commutes—mine was an hour-long train ride. I would leave before dawn and return after dark,” one of them explained.
“It felt neither rewarding nor fulfilling. When we discussed it, we both agreed: we wanted to travel, explore more, and break free from the routine.”
Throughout their numerous journeys around Australia in a different campervan, Lydia, 29, and Wehan, 28, managed to explore every state and territory, all while maintaining a remarkably budget-conscious lifestyle.
The pair spent around $64 per day, averaging under $2000 per month, during their last 595-day journey.
Most of the bigger expenses – particularly in recent weeks – are related to fuel and van insurance.
At first, they had planned to save enough cash to buy property again.
But that dream was quickly extinguished.
The median house price in the WA capital now sits at about $1.3 million, double what they paid in their early 20s.
“When we first set out, we made sure we’d have enough for two years of travel and a house deposit if we want to come back and settle,” Lydia said.
“But it was definitely a huge shock, seeing the property prices,” Wehan, who was born in South Africa, added.
The travellers agreed they weren’t ready for a huge mortgage.
Instead, they decided to buy a former patient transport van owned by the government at an auction in Hobart for $20,220.
Wehan, who has a flair for building and design, then converted the Mercedes Sprinter van into a liveable home, complete with a kitchen benchtop, a double bed, plumbing, a compost toilet, a laundry and a fridge.
In total, the couple spent just over $50,800 on their tiny home on wheels.
A large chunk of that cost included repairs and moving the van from Hobart to the mainland.
“That was the luxury fit-out. You can definitely do it for a lot cheaper,” Wehan said.
“We wanted this to be our home base,” Lydia added.
“It needed to be comfortable for long-term living. So we have things like a washing machine. We have a computer monitor, a nice big one to work on.
“We made sure we had a really full kitchen so that we wouldn’t be limited in cooking.”
They have also designed their careers to fit in with their nomadic lifestyle.
Lydia works remotely in digital marketing, while Wehan works full-time on producing the couple’s travel content, which pays for their adventures, groceries, fuel bills and campsite fees.
Life on the road is bliss – but they both agree it may come to an end eventually.
“Our goal is one day to settle in Tasmania,” Lydia said, adding that they “fell in love” with the island state on their last visit.
“We have set as kind of a goal three to five years and see how we feel.”
However, the couple admits there is no major incentive to return to normal life.
And they say Australia’s roads are filled with “not so grey” nomads like themselves who have been locked out of the property market.
“On our second lap, we noticed a lot more younger people who are doing this full time, not just the grey nomads,” Lydia said.
“There are a lot more people working on the road, not just remote work, but picking up seasonal work.”
Their next lap of Australia will be a “slow” one, with less money spent on fuel and more time spent exploring each carefully-chosen destination.
“This time, it is just us living,” Lydia added.
“We’re saving quite a bit of money as we go, so it will put us in a good spot.”
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