The Sneaky Costs Nobody Warns You About on a Big Lap of Australia

Everyone budgets for fuel, caravan park fees and food when they plan their Big Lap. Those are the big three, and they’re the obvious ones. But there’s a second layer of costs that catches a lot of families out, not because they’re expensive on their own, but because nobody talks about them until they’ve already blown out the week’s budget.

We’ve done numerous trips around Australia with our family, and these are the sneaky costs that snuck up on us too, laundromats included.

The Big Three You Already Budget For

Fuel, accommodation and food are the obvious ones. Fuel is expensive and it’s gone up, but if your budget needs trimming, it’s one of the easiest to control, do you really need to drive to the other side of Australia, or can you cover a shorter distance and still get away? Accommodation depends on how you use caravan parks, a week at a time versus a couple of nights, the big flashy parks versus the small mum and dad ones out of town, it all adds up differently. Food doesn’t change much from what you’d spend at home, except when you’re in the middle of nowhere, or you’ve got picky eaters who only want particular brands, which tend to be the pricier ones out bush.

Laundromats Add Up Faster Than You Think

On our last big trip up to Western Australia, our kids were a bit older and a lot muddier, which meant a lot more time at laundromats. We didn’t realise how expensive they’d be. With kids’ clothes you can’t fit much in one machine, so it’s $2 in, then $4 in the dryer, and the dryer cycle finishes and everything’s still damp, so in goes another $2 and $4. Before you know it you’ve spent $50 at the laundromat, and we hadn’t accounted for that at all.

Our tip: get your washing done at a caravan park when you can, so it goes on the line and dries naturally instead.

Caravan and Car Maintenance

Stuff goes wrong with a caravan, especially living in it full time, you’ll find little niggly problems. On their own they’re not a big deal, but if a part has to be sent to you, and then you have to divert somewhere and pay for extra accommodation while you wait, one small part can snowball into a fairly hefty bill. Have a backup fund for this, or at least go in knowing you’ll need to spend on caravan maintenance.

Don’t forget the car either. It’s easy to assume everyone already budgets for car maintenance because it’s mechanical and obvious, but preventative maintenance, hoses, filters, the little bits and pieces, still need to be factored in.

Your Back-Home Costs Don’t Stop

Going on a trip doesn’t mean a holiday from your back-home bills. If you’ve rented out your house or just locked it up, you’re still paying rates, taxes and insurance. If you’ve sold up, you’ll likely still have costs like health insurance and the Medicare levy, plus your normal day-to-day living expenses. It’s easy to forget these because they’re not “trip” costs, but they’re real and they keep ticking over while you’re away.

👉 Worth sorting your own trip cover at the same time, so it’s one less thing to think about. Compare cover with AllClear Travel Insurance.

Phone and Internet

We run two different providers, Telstra and Optus, so between us we get the best chance of coverage, it’s still hit and miss and one of us will have signal when the other doesn’t. We also run Starlink, which is expensive, but we wouldn’t be able to travel without it since we work on the road and homeschool our kids. It’s also just peace of mind having that connectivity. Budget for it, it’s a lot more than the standard $80 NBN plan you’d pay at home.

One-Off Experiences

You can travel all of Australia and spend nothing on experiences if you choose to, beautiful beaches, walks, community events, all free. But if you’re in a location and want to do something specific, a swim with a whale shark, a hot air balloon flight, an amazing boat ride, something you wouldn’t do in everyday life, those can be costly. That’s fine if you’ve planned for it, just make sure it’s actually in the budget.

Not sure what’s worth booking? Browse tours and experiences on GetYourGuide and price them into your trip before you go.

The Sneaky Ice-Cream Stop

This one catches everyone, us included. You stop at a servo, buy one ice cream for the kids, and that one ice cream becomes one for every family member. Suddenly it’s $30, plus a drink and a bag of chips, and it’s $50 at the servo. Do that day after day on the road and you’re easily up $100 or $200 without noticing. It’s all fine if you’ve budgeted for it, that’s where the trouble starts if you haven’t.

Our Thoughts

None of these sneaky costs are a problem on their own, laundromats, maintenance, back-home bills, connectivity, experiences and the odd ice cream are all totally manageable once you know they’re coming. The trouble only starts when they catch you by surprise. Itemise them the same way you’d itemise fuel and food, and your budget will actually hold up on the road.