How to Fund a Trip Around Australia
How you can fund full time travel in Australia and live that Aussie Dream isn’t too far out of reach for the majority of us. It can be as simple as rethinking what you do at home and what your priorities are.
We’ll let you in on our secrets to funding our trip around Australia, what worked for us and what didn’t, as well as what many other families are doing who we met while on the road. This is an in-depth guide to how to afford to live on the road and full time travel.
Skip to the parts that interest you, but also have a browse through the other sections as something might catch your attention.
How to Fund Full Time Travel in Australia?
There are two distinct categories to funding full time travel – the first is saving before you leave, the other is leaving with little savings, but working as you go. Both options have some pros and cons.
Both options are possible at any income level. If you don’t earn as much as others, it simply means it may take a bit longer to save.
But, ultimately, you’ll still be able to plan your trip around Australia. If you’re not sure how to pick the date to leave, check out this article:
What is the Cost to Travel Australia in your Caravan?
The cost to travel around Australia in your Caravan is 100% dependent on how you want to live your life. If you’re going to see everything, experience everything and eat out routinely, you’re going to need to save a heap!
This article here gives the breakdown on costs to travel Australia:
17 Ways to fund full Time Travel in Australia
Prior to setting off on our lap around Australia, we saved up as much as we could, chose to pay off our car and caravan and sold some stuff. This list are the tricks we found to make sure we left with some healthy savings.
Note: I’m not a professional money person, but we’ve been in your position before so feel free to learn what worked well, and from our mistakes!
1. Savings
The easiest, yet hardest way to leave with money in the bank: savings! I say easiest because by putting away a few dollars each week, you’ll be surprised how quickly it adds up. Hardest way because you need to be dedicated!
Plan on leaving with an agreed amount in your account. Look at how much you’ll need on a weekly basis and times it by how long you want to depart for.
It’s hard to say a rough figure, but if you plan around $1500/week you should be OK. Of course, that fully depends on your personal circumstances and I suggest to do your own budget.
Ideas that we found worked well (plus, these are great for on the road too!)
- Swap going out for dinners with pre-packed park picnics
- Swap paid outings for free outings such as the beach or park
- Browse op-shops
- Make your own coffee in the morning to have at morning tea (this alone can save at least $25/week or $1300/year!)
2. Holiday pay
Look into what holiday pay you have owing to you at work. Do you have any annual leave? Consider asking for your pay in either a lump sum or ask to be paid at 1/2 pay.
Tim had some annual leave accrued, so we had that paid at half the rate, which lasted double as long!
3. Sell your home/stuff
The big question usually is do you sell or rent your house? There are definitely pros and cons with selling or renting your house.
The first that comes to mind is all the families who sold their houses pre-2020, then the house prices boomed and they were forced out of the housing market. This is a risk that will always be there if you sell. On the other side, if you sell your house, you’ll have funds for a caravan and car combo and some savings.
This is really where you’ll need to speak to a financial advisor.
Another option is to sell your things. Your furniture, clothes, etc… This is less drastic than selling your house, and means you’ll get a few dollars and won’t need to worry about storage fees. keep in mind you’ll probably want to purchase these items again when you return!
We sold lots of our things – which was great to have a good cleanout! Everything else we put into one room and locked the door. We then rented our house as a two-bedroom house instead of three.
4. Rent your home
This is the option we took. This allowed us weekly income – which then went back into the mortgage!
If you choose to rent, you’ll then need to decide if you rent it yourself or get a property manager. A property manager is easier, but they do cost for the convenience. Look into both options
5. Super
I don’t know much about super, but other families we met were travelling on their super. You can access your super at a particular age, and I believe you can access a partial amount earlier. Just something to consider.
6. Investments
This one is usually set up well before you intend to travel, but do you have any investments of any kind? Property? Shares? Would it be possible to sell? Or perhaps they might help fund your trip around Australia as you travel.
7. Inheritance/trust fund
There were a few families we met who received an inheritance and decided to use it to make memories with their families. I’ve included this as the question always gets asked if we and other full-time travellers were gifted money – and it’s a legitimate question to ask if you don’t know the other options.
This would be a boring article if my answer to funding your trip around Australia is simply trust fund money!
8. Win the lotto (lol!)
Sorry, I don’t have the answer to how to win the lotto, nor have I ever won anything before! However, clique as it is, I have won the lotto – we are doing what we want to do and are ‘rich in memories’. We just worked hard at making it happen, and you can too.
How to earn money while travelling full time in Australia
The second category is earning money while you travel full time around Australia. Some items cross over, such as renting out your house which creates ongoing income.
This list is what we used to fund our trip, and what others have done who we’ve met on the road.
9. Stop to work
There really is so much work out there if you’re willing to think outside the square and learn some new skills. Some families stop for a few months, and some stop for a week here and there. You can monitor your budget and calculate when you’ll need to top up your funds.
Based on the signs we saw and chatting with others, here is a list of the common places to look for work:
- Bakery
- Pubs
- Cafes
- Caravan Parks – groundskeeping, admin
- Trade work – ie plumbers, chippies, electricians
- Mechanics
- Hair/beauty places
- Nursing staff
The list is almost endless, many rural towns are in short supply of seasonal workers. If you have a good work ethic and are keen to get to know the locals, you’ll be able to stop for work.
Something to consider: what are your current skills? Are they transferable to other types of work? Can you upskill in a simple but needed way?
10. Take your current job online
Have you considered chatting with your boss? Is there a component to your current work that will allow you to work online? Can you change roles slightly to allow you to work online?
Taking your current job online is possible for some people, and all it could take is a conversation with your boss. Just remember to work out what’s in it for them – what can you offer by asking to work from home? For example, more productivity, creative thinking, etc…
11. Can your current job transfer locations?
We met a few nurses on our travels who were still working for the same company but they put in transfers to different locations. They then travelled to where they were needed.
Again, just something to consider if you work for a larger company, especially if the company has multiple locations.
12. Work for yourself
This is also called freelancing. Technically I’m a freelancer. I write for other companies and am contracted to them. I also have my own business with Tim ‘Margie and Tim’. This blog forms part of my business – I’ll discuss how shortly.
Other types of freelancing are:
- Social media marketing
- Virtual Assistant
- Blogging
- Voice Overs
- Graphic design
- Editing (video or written)
These options are great as they give you the flexibility to pick and choose your own hours and set your own rules. You can either advertise yourself or use a platform such as Upwork. Some categories of freelancing require lots of skills, such as graphic design, but other categories can be learnt by finding short courses.
The downside to freelancing is you need to be proactive in finding work, you also need to have a lot of motivation and be able to work independently. Don’t forget you’ll also need to have a basic sense of business operation – managing your own taxes, invoicing, etc.
I should also mention I have an Etsy store, while this isn’t going to fund our trip, it helps to buy a beer every now and then! It runs on a dropshipping principle, I make the designs then a company I’ve chosen prints and sends the item on my behalf. There are many variations to this style of business.
As an Etsy store, you could also make items and send them to customers from anywhere in Australia. Options are endless!
13. FIFO
Fly in Fly out workers, usually for the mines. This type of work allows workers to spend a week or 2 at the mine site, then a week or 2 ‘at home’. The at home part can be anywhere in the country.
This is a great option for some. The families we met who fund their trip this way usually park up their caravan in a caravan park for a few weeks so the rest of the family doesn’t need to travel.
keep in mind that this can add extra expenses as a few weeks in a caravan park doesn’t come cheep. You can inquire about long term stays in caravan parks.
14. Search for new online options
Simply put, check out seek.com and search for ‘work from home’ options. With a good internet connection, work from home can be anywhere. Add a few notifications to your seek profile to see what may come up.
15. Affiliate marketing/ MLM
This can be a controversial topic. Affiliate marketing, MLM or Middle-level marketing, and high ticket affiliate marketing are a few options you may hear around the place, especially in Facebook groups.
I’ve got two thoughts on this. Firstly, affiliate marketing does work. But don’t get sucked into becoming a millionaire overnight. This website and our YouTube channel earn affiliate commissions when people click on our links.
How affiliate marketing works
How it works is we advertise things that we really use and love. (You’d see right through my words if I try to advertise anything else – and it doesn’t sit well with me) On the backend, we’ve signed up to the company’s affiliate program. When someone clicks on the link and purchases from the company, we get a small commission. Depending on the price of the item, this usually is around a few cents to a few dollars.
However, this has taken years to get to this point. It’s typically a slow process that takes time and effort. You need to have an audience to talk to, and one that is willing to buy what you’re suggesting.
High ticket affiliate options can be seen as an easier way as they claim to have a higher earning due to the price of the option – usually an online course. Again, anything is possible, but you need to have a good marketing sense, and an audience willing to buy.
How MLM works
MLM works very similar way to affiliate marketing – you’re selling someone elses’ products. Think Avon or Tupperware. You sell their products and get a commission.
16. Influencing
Influencers need an audience. Influencers can be on any social media platform and usually, they make money by either getting paid by companies to showcase their products or by affiliate marketing, or both.
If this interests you, but you don’t have an audience, look into UGC. I do UGC, which is user-generated content. I create videos on products for companies to then use on their social media.
17. YouTube
YouTube is also another option we get asked about. Yes, we have our YouTube channel, but honestly, it isn’t a good way to make money. Our YouTube channel is mainly used for storing all of our memories and for friends and family back home to see what we’ve been up to.
To give you an idea, I spend about 1 hour of editing per 1 minute of video. Our videos gain, on average 5000 views. If I upload 1 per week, we usually make around $200 for the month. Not good value for money! But an awesome way to collate all the files on your camera.
How to make your money go further when travelling Australia
It doesn’t matter which option you choose, but have a look at the options and see what suits you. As you can see, you can fund your trip around Australia in many ways.
Just remember, you’re going to see just as much in a second hand caravan compared to a full-on Taj Mahal, without the big loan. Money saved is just as important as money earned.
Look at what is more important to you as a family and put your plans in place.
From a family who has ‘done it’, we saved, we used holiday pay, and I continued to work as a freelancer and run our business (our blog, Etsy store and YouTube channel). Sometimes it requires a bit of thinking ‘outside the square’, but after looking through this article, see what catches your attention and go from there!
Happy Adventuring 🙂
Oh yea, and PS feel free to jump onto our newsletter where I share tips and tricks to caravanning around Australia, which includes money hacks to make your holiday go for even longer!
