Caravanning Lawyer Mum with Daddy Daycare Dad = Travel Magick

Many families that dream of doing their Lap of Oz think the only way to do it is to save, save & save or sell! We have found an increasing amount of families that are hitting the road and working remotely. We recently found Jen from Travel Magick – a caravanning Mum that is working as a Lawyer as her family travels around our glorious country. Enjoy their story….Real Stories | Real Families

Hi there! We’re Jeff, Jen, Spike and Scout. And we’re pinching ourselves daily because we’re so stoked to be caravanning around Australia as a family.

How did it happen?

It all started when Jeff and I we were doing some goal-setting and playing a game of “Wouldn’t it be great if…” whilst the kids snoozed in the backseat of the car.

“Wouldn’t it be great if… we could caravan around Australia for a year” Jeff said. After I shouted “YES!”, almost waking the kids, we started to nut out the details.

To avoid home-schooling we’d need to leave within 2 months. Could we afford it? Yes, if one of us continued working and we rented out our house (also considering the massive day care fees saving!).

Bubbles of possibility started to percolate. This conversation alone was making me feel more alive than I had in a long time… Having 2 babies in 15 months had taken its toll on our pre-kids travel adventures and I was feeling stuck and frustrated with the mundanity of our routine. The kids were in day care 5 days a week and we hardly saw them. We were working full-time and hardly saw each other. A big lap of Australia seemed like the perfect antidote. But first… research!

I spent the afternoon scouring the Internet. Figuring out budgets and preferred gear, absorbing advice for travelling with young kids and stumbling upon inspirational families who have blazed this trail before us.

Jeff asked if we could officially make the decision to go. I needed one external approval before I could comfortably commit. My boss.

I was 6 weeks into a new job, working as a lawyer for a progressive virtual law firm. Already working remotely, I knew it was possible that my boss might agree to me working from the caravan, but it was by no means a given.

I put my business case down on paper. Trying to anticipate and simultaneously address any concerns she may have – internet, communication, place and times of work, kids and so on. I came up with ideas for using the trip to promote her business. My heart was pumping as I pushed send on that email. If she said no, we wouldn’t hit the road. But she didn’t. She said yes. A big supportive yes. The final puzzle piece slotted into place.

Making the decision to go was the critical step. Once made, it wasn’t a question of ‘if’ anymore. It was simply a matter of ‘how’.

Head down bum up, that’s how! The 6 weeks between making that decision and hitting the road were insane. We found a caravan (Jurgens Solaris family bunk van) but our car wasn’t big enough to pull it, so in the interest of time we also bought the car that the caravan dealership used to move their vans around – a very suitable Mazda BT50. We sold our car, rented out the house, and got 101 other things done in the nick of time… it’s incredible what you can achieve when you’re motivated (and freaking out!).

How does Jen work for an employer whilst caravanning Australia?

I work as a lawyer (mainly drafting contracts) 6 hours per day Mon-Fri which I break into 2 shifts. The first from 5.30-8.30am and the second from 1-4pm. This means that I have a 4.5hour break to explore with the boys and enjoy our travels. It also means we have one income still coming in whilst on the road which helps a lot with funding the trip!

I’ve been working remotely for over 5 years (and for 3 different employers, including an ASX-listed company). If you’re interested in caravanning Australia and remaining employed, read my blog post on this topic which might give you some ideas.

Jeff is daddy day care while I work. I think his job is harder than mine! But I’m so grateful the boys are getting to spend this much time with their dad. It’s very special.

Why Travel Magick?

We chose this name because we believe in the power of the mind/law of attraction to create the life you want to live. This is magick with a ‘k’. Aleister Crowley considered magick to be anything that moves a person close to fulfilling their ultimate destiny, which he called one’s True Will. We like the sound of that. Magic with a ‘c’ is more around stage performance and pulling rabbits out of hats – which is fun, but not as much fun as manifesting your dreams.