Margie & Tim
From Dream
to Driveway
Your 7-day action plan for planning a long caravan trip. One day, three tasks — by Day 7 you’ll have a real departure date and a real plan.
7 days · 21 actions · One departure date
How this works
Work through one day at a time. Each day has three real actions to tick off — not things to think about, things to do. Click into each day using the tabs above. Tick off each task as you complete it. The principle and Margie’s tip for each day are there when you need them. The pen prompts are for offline — grab a real piece of paper. By Day 7 you’ll have a departure date written down, a budget started, a loose route sketched, a van that’s ready, and the life admin underway.
Trip Setup
YOUR 7 DAYS AT A GLANCE
D1
Day 1
Lock In the Date
Set your departure date and get clear on your why
D2
Day 2
Sort Your Budget
Work out what it costs and how to fund it
D3
Day 3
Plan Your Route
Sketch a loose shape — seasons, regions, timing
D4
Day 4
Car & Van Ready
Check your setup is right for the trip you’re planning
D5
Day 5
Life Admin
Sort the unsexy but essential stuff before you leave
D6
Day 6
Pack Smart
What to take, what to leave, and how to do the house
D7
Day 7
You’re Ready. Go.
Final checks, the right mindset, and actually leaving
Premium Resources
Go Further with Premium
These tools are available to premium members inside the Plan. Save. Travel. community.
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Travel Australia Budget Spreadsheet
Plan your budget, track every dollar on the road, and work out exactly how much to save each week before you leave.
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Caravan Maintenance Schedule
Tim’s full pre-trip, monthly, 6-monthly and annual maintenance checklists — plus a service log to keep your van in top shape on the road.
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Work through one day at a time
0 of 21 actions done. Each one brings you closer to a departure date that’s actually real.
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1
Day 1
Lock In the Date
Set your departure date and get clear on your why
Today’s Focus
Today is about making it real. A date written down is a dream becoming a plan.
Open your calendar and write a departure date — any date. Even a rough month is enough to start.
Write down your wish list destinations and 3 words that describe what you want this trip to feel like.
Have a conversation with your family about your why — what does everyone actually want from this trip?
Planner Principle
There is no perfect date to pack up your life and go. The best time to set one is right now.
Margie’s Tip
Click to reveal
Try this: open a note on your phone right now and write three words that describe how you want this trip to feel. Relaxed? Adventurous? Unhurried? Those three words become your filter for every decision you make over the next seven days.
Grab a Pen
Write the date at the top of a blank page. Under it, write: ‘We are going because…’ and finish the sentence. Don’t edit it. Whatever comes out first is probably the truest answer.
Evening Reflection
Grab a pen and write your answer on paper: If you had to leave in four weeks, what is the one thing that would actually stop you? Is it real — or is it fear?
2
Day 2
Sort Your Budget
Work out what it costs and how to fund it
Today’s Focus
Today is about clarity. Knowing your numbers takes the fear out of the money conversation.
Write down your current weekly household spend and cross off everything you won’t pay on the road.
Decide: lifestyle or holiday? Work out your estimated weekly travel budget (fuel, food, accommodation, experiences).
Open the Travel Australia Budget Spreadsheet (in the classroom) and start entering your figures.
Planner Principle
Your budget on the road will look a lot like your budget at home. Start practising the habits now.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
When estimating fuel costs, work out how many litres your car uses per 100km, then multiply by your planned weekly kilometres. Don’t forget: the further north and more remote you go, the more expensive fuel and groceries get.
Grab a Pen
Draw two columns. Label the first ‘Home costs that disappear’ and the second ‘Costs that follow us’. Fill them in honestly. The gap between the two columns is your travel budget starting point.
Evening Reflection
Is this trip going to be a lifestyle or a holiday? Be honest — because the answer changes everything about how you budget and how long you go.
3
Day 3
Plan Your Route
Sketch a loose shape — seasons, regions, timing
Today’s Focus
Today is about direction. A loose shape is all you need — the details fill themselves in.
Check the best season for each of your wish list destinations — plan the north for April to October.
Note anything that needs advance booking (whale sharks, peak-season campsites, seasonal operators) and book it.
Sketch a rough regional loop — chunks of time per region, not day by day. Book your first 2–3 nights.
Planner Principle
The key word is loosely. Over-planning a long trip is one of the most common mistakes families make.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
Use the state government road condition websites and apps — Western Australia, Queensland and the NT all have them. Download them now, before you’re in the middle of nowhere wondering if the road ahead is open.
Grab a Pen
Get a map of Australia — a real one or a printed one — and circle the places that genuinely excite you. Not the places you think you should see. The ones that make you lean forward when you talk about them.
Evening Reflection
What’s the one experience or destination that, if you missed it, you’d genuinely regret? That’s the one to protect first.
4
Day 4
Car & Van Ready
Check your setup is right for the trip you’re planning
Today’s Focus
Today is about safety. Knowing your setup is right means you can relax and enjoy the road.
Decide: on-road, mostly on-road, or off-road? Use your Day 3 route to answer this.
Check your van’s ATM and your car’s GVM — do the numbers work? Get your loaded van weighed at a weighbridge.
Book a service for your tow vehicle and download the Caravan Maintenance Schedule from the classroom.
Planner Principle
The most expensive repairs always happen in the middle of nowhere. A little time at home goes a very long way.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
If you’re not sure whether your van is on-road or off-road capable, have a read of Tim’s caravan guide on the blog at margieandtim.com.au — he explains it in plain English with no jargon.
Grab a Pen
Write down your van’s ATM weight and your car’s GVM from the owner’s manuals. Then write down what you’re planning to put in the van. Do the numbers work?
Evening Reflection
If something went wrong with your van in a remote area tomorrow, what would happen? Do you have the cover, the gear, and the plan?
5
Day 5
Life Admin
Sort the unsexy but essential stuff before you leave
Today’s Focus
Today is about freedom. Every tick on this list is one less thing waiting for you back home.
Sort mail redirection, bills on autopay, home insurance review, and any subscriptions to cancel.
Check all insurance (off-road coverage, long-distance towing, ambulance — is it Australia-wide?), book doctor and dentist, sort scripts.
Write your life admin list — every task, a due date, and a name next to it. Put it on the fridge.
Planner Principle
Getting the unsexy stuff sorted before you leave means you get to be present for the good stuff on the road.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
The ambulance cover trap catches a lot of families out. Many health insurance policies only cover ambulance in your home state. An emergency helicopter retrieval from a remote location without Australia-wide cover can cost tens of thousands.
Grab a Pen
Get a piece of paper and write every single thing that needs to happen before you leave. Everything. Don’t organise it yet — just get it all out. Then put a name next to each one.
Evening Reflection
What’s the one thing on your life admin list you’ve been putting off? Write it down right now and put a name next to it.
6
Day 6
Pack Smart
What to take, what to leave, and how to do the house
Today’s Focus
Today is about letting go. The stuff you leave behind makes room for the experiences ahead.
Assign one cupboard or space per person — whatever fits in it is what’s coming, nothing more.
Do a test pack. Load the van as if you’re leaving, walk away for a day, come back and see what can go.
Go room by room in the house — keep, store or sell. Start Facebook Marketplace listings early.
Planner Principle
Most people take way too much. We sent a whole box back to Adelaide via Australia Post on our first big trip.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
The op shop swap is a genuine strategy. We take summer clothes when we leave in summer, then as we head somewhere colder, we grab a jumper or two from an op shop and donate what we don’t need. Saves weight and money both ways.
Grab a Pen
Walk through every room in your house with a pen and paper. Write down anything you haven’t touched in the last three months. That’s your sell or donate list.
Evening Reflection
Walk through your house and ask: if I had to fit everything important into one room, what would actually make the cut?
7
Day 7
You’re Ready. Go.
Final checks, the right mindset, and actually leaving
Today’s Focus
Today is about leaving. You’ve done the work. Now trust it and go.
Run through your departure checklist: coupling locked, chains on, all lights, hatches latched, gas off, water pump off.
Set a countdown on your phone, share your date with someone, and post it in the Plan. Save. Travel. community.
Book any remaining wish list experiences that need advance bookings — these are the ones most likely to sell out.
Planner Principle
No plan survives first contact with the road — and that is the whole point. Preparation makes you free, not rigid.
Margie’s TipClick to reveal
The best days on the road are almost always the unplanned ones. Give yourself permission to slow down faster than you think you need to. Most families drive too much in the first month and burn out.
Grab a Pen
Write a note to your future self on the road — for the day when things go wrong and you’re wondering why you did this. Tell them why. They’ll need it.
Evening Reflection
What does success look like at the end of this trip? Write it down. You’ll want to come back to it when you hit a hard week on the road.