Working & Living on the road Full Time

Many families choose not to travel as much when their kids are babies, others embrace the madness and GO FOR IT! Camping with Cubs is that family – travelling and working across our amazing country, in the caravan with 3 under 2! Yes, you read the right! Cameron & Alison have one adorable toddler and a gorgeous set of twins… This is their story…

Hi! We are the Lyons Family – Cameron & Alison camping with our Cubs Keira (2years old) & Twins Mia & Savannah (9months old).

We have always shared a passion for camping and exploring; and travelling Australia is the next amazing chapter in our lives.

We decided to create a Facebook page so when our girls are older, they can look back on all the places they visited and the experiences they had, and also so family and friends could follow our journey.

Camping with Cubs sort of just took off from there and we now also have Instagram and a Website.

How did we get here?

Starting a family turned out to be a hard road travelled for us and our camping adventures helped us to cope and distract us from the fact our story may not have included a chapter with kids.

We started talking, planning and getting excited about lapping Australia in our swag but there was always that incomplete feeling.

We decided to give our dreams of a family one last shot (otherwise we were taking off). It had been a long 8years but finally, 9months later our IVF miracle Keira entered the world. At 5weeks old Keira experienced her first camping trip and we knew she was going to love the traveling world just as much as we did.

Excitedly, our Australian lap now included camping with a kid.

Knowing it would set our financial timeline back a little, we upgraded to a 2017 Ford Ranger and traded our swag in for a camper trailer because we wanted a little more luxury and comfort for Keira.

We were still keen for a few smaller trips to keep the travel bug under control but thought our lap was a couple of years away. When Keira was 9months old the camper was packed and the Ranger was ready for a trip to the tip, Cape York.

But 2 weeks before we were due to leave, we received some very shocking news; we were pregnant. We decided to postpone our trip while the news sunk in.

A few weeks later we were surprised to find out we were expecting identical twins.

Cameron’s position was starting to take him across Australia for weeks at a time. The money was great, but he was missing out on so much with Keira, and we didn’t go through everything we did only for him to miss out and now we had two more bundles of joy on the way.

A few weeks before Mia and Savannah joined our family, we had the idea of going with him. At first, we thought it to be wishful thinking but the more we talked about it the more possible it sounded.

We were about to have twins with an 18month-old toddler. Life was about to get crazy, quickly and the idea of being away from each other was upsetting.

We knew our camper trailer wasn’t going to be practical for the 3 babies, so we started looking into caravans. 2 weeks after our girls were born, we bought a 2017 Jayco Outback Basestation AKA ‘Our Cub-Keeper’.

After we survived a 4week family holiday to Lorella Springs, NT when the twins were 6weeks old we knew this was the life we wanted, even with the many hiccups and a lot of lessons learnt, we enjoyed being together as a family.

Cameron returned to work but we were just miserable so, we made the decision. Cameron resigned.

We knew the single income would be a strain financially, so we had to move quickly. We had no plans but from the beginning it felt right.

3months later, on the 4th December 2018, our house was sold, belongings gone or in storage, caravan packed, and we started the next chapter of our lives.

Living full-time, in our caravan, travelling Australia, together as a family and we have no plans to settle in the one spot anytime soon, especially if Alison can keep working on the road.

We just reached a point in our lives where we just had to follow our hearts.

How are we travelling?

We searched far and wide for our perfect Caravan and it was love at first sight when we stepped into a Jayco Outback Basestation Toy Hauler. It had everything we needed and wanted. The lounge was comfortable, the shower/toilet was practical, the fridge/freezer was a good size, the kitchen was amazing and the girls room was perfect. The bunks folded up so we had plenty of room to put in porta-cots to begin with and now the girls are getting older we have converted the bunk beds into big cots. We couldn’t be happier.

We travel in a 2017 Ford Ranger which has been modified with a long-range fuel tank, 2inch Dobinsons Heavy Duty Lift, XRox Bullbar, Ocam 4×4 Roof-rack, Adventure Kings Dominator Winch and Titans Drawers.

How do we fund our trip?

It’s the biggest setback for a lot of people and unfortunately, we don’t have a secret money tree. Honestly, we actually didn’t walk away with a lot from the sale of our house as we had some debt to pay off.

Our main income is from Alison. Before the kids, Alison focused a lot of time and energy on her career and is qualified in Business, Budget, Financial and Project Management.

Alison is currently managing a company and has set herself up to be able to work remotely, on the road. Alison is also hoping to use her skills on the road to help other businesses set themselves up or develop better systems.

Cameron had long service leave accumulated and has that put away for an emergency.

Cameron is also a Trade Qualified Carpenter, and quite the handyman, and is planning to pick up little bits and pieces along the way to keep the piggy bank topped up but right now is catching up on missed time with the girls.

What are we excited for?

Apart from the obvious spending more time together as a family, we are most excited to watch our girls grow up exploring our beautiful country. We already see them developing and learning so much. It makes us so happy when our daughter asks to go for a walk or wants to stop and literally smell the roses in the garden.

You can follow Camping with Cubs adventure here: Camping with Cubs Facebook, Instagram and Website. We can’t wait to hear more about their travels soon….