“Hey girls do you want to go searching for platypus or sit in the car and watch a DVD”? That’s the choice I gave my kids one night this week.
They are so deprived of screen time, they chose to watch a DVD, “We’ve already seen platypus, I want to watch a DVD”.
Is there such a thing as screen deprivation for kids that don’t have access to normal television on a regular basis? Is there such a thing as too much adventure? Are my kids now adventured out?
After travelling around Australia for the last eight months, my two girls, now aged four and two, have seen and done more in their short lives than I could have ever imagined.
Avalon and Marla at the Slim Dusty Centre in Kempsey. Image: Supplied
They have hiked up mountains and closed their eyes to listen to the power of a waterfall; they’ve followed massive goannas along bush tracks and climbed through caves; they’ve seen platypus in the wild more than once; they’ve been kissed by wallabies and can name several types of butterflies; they’ve swam in crystal clear bush creeks and jumped waves on some of the most amazing beaches in the country; they’ve danced at a country music festival and sung solo on a stage in front of strangers; they’ve jumped in countless rain puddles and seen some amazing sunsets.
Though when I’ve attempted sunrise the response I heard was, “That’s nice Mum, can I go back to bed now?”
They’ve been bemused by many of the �big things’ scattered around the Australian countryside and revelled in building sandcastles and collecting shells; they’ve fed turtles; drank coconut water from freshly picked coconuts and watched merchant crabs in their march up the sand; they’ve made some amazing new friends, some young and some not so young who they would never had the opportunity to meet at home.
Dad David with the girls in Mackay, QLD. Image: Supplied
The big decision to hit the road
When my husband and I made the decision to uproot our family for a life on the road, living in a tiny pop-up caravan, we realised there would never be a �right time’ to do the trip. We would never have enough money, we would never get the timing exactly right, and if we didn’t do it now we would get bogged down in school commitments pretty quickly. So we decided to bite the bullet and take off. We packed up our house, rented it out, and without any defined plan except to head north, we embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.
The big unknown for us was how we, as a family who had been used to living in a house with a big backyard, and life that incorporated all the local parks and space of our local community could live together in a space that is probably no more than two metres square.
Paddle boarding along the Maroochy River in Maroochydore, QLD. Image: Supplied
The answer is it’s actually easier than you would think, once you get over the fact that kids toys are basically in every. single. space. and accept you have no privacy ever! Yes there are down days, for me usually when it’s raining and you have to amuse children indoors or when one parent is away working, because let’s face it you have to fund the lifestyle somehow. Or the toilets are 500 metres away and you have a child busting to go to the toilet while the toddler is asleep. These are the conundrums that we have to solve and yes some days we probably all just need to sit in the car and watch a DVD but overall as a family unit we have become much closer.
Strawberry fields, Sunshine Coast, QLD. Image: Supplied
Living in a rolling home is really the best adventure you can have, and to share it with, and see life through the eyes of children can make it so much more exciting. We are sharing these experiences on our blog www.thegudlangesblog.com and Instagram @thegudlanges.
