It’s been since April when I decided to leave my home in Sydney and start ride-sharing around Australia, living in vans and relying on the generosity of human kindness to take me into their homes through Couchsurfing.
I’ve learnt so many things along the way like how little I need to survive and how I can sustain my business whilst on the road. Here are a few lessons I learnt whilst living life on the road.
We take life for granted
The comfort of having a home can easily make us take life for granted. Now that I have lived in vans and stayed at random people’s houses I have learnt that we truly do take life for granted. We forget to appreciate the small things like watching the sunset and watching the sunrise. We also take it for granted everyday luxuries that I now call showers, toilets and a bed.
We can live off less
Everything that I own is in a backpack in a van. It honestly makes me wonder how I even accumulated things when I had a home, useless material things you know. Everything I need now in life, is in a van and I don’t feel like I am missing out on anything.
Humans are beautiful
I was always afraid of using sites such as Couchsurfing, but as I started this adventure to road trip around Australia I knew I wanted to give it a chance. It has been so great to me, from sleeping in a yacht to getting driven around in a 4WD on Fraser Island. Many of these experiences have been from complete strangers who have opened their doors to me. For no other reason than to receive some company or to show pure kindness. It really restores my faith in humanity.
A sense of freedom
When I am on the road I truly feel like anything is possible. I can stay in one place if I want to or I can choose to move on. That freedom to move without anyone passing judgement on me is absolutely amazing.
You appreciate your friends and family
It’s quite natural to think of home when you’re away for a while, but I have learnt to appreciate my friends and family so much more than I used too. They are just a phone call away when I am feeling alone or when I just want to connect with someone who completely knows me inside out. It’s so easy to get so comfortable with friends we forget to actually thank them for being in our lives.
How strong I am
I know this may sound a little boastful but I have learnt how strong I am. How much I can give away and how much I want to just spread a beautiful spirit along everywhere I go. I truly believe that every piece of me gets left wherever I travel and that wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t feel strong enough to completely let myself go.
Money isn’t everything
You spend less when you’re on the road, only because you want to save your money for more adventurous things. You realise that money can’t buy you everything so you budget more and you make sure that the free things are satisfying.