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As a stand-up comedian, Matt Watson is well-versed in the art of the joke - but as he arrived in Australia from Canada for the trip of a lifetime — Australia shut down its borders.

Source : PortMac.News | Street :

Source : PortMac.News | Street | News Story:

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'van life' - The fun alternative to international travel
As a stand-up comedian, Matt Watson is well-versed in the art of the joke - but as he arrived in Australia from Canada for the trip of a lifetime — Australia shut down its borders.

News Story Summary:

"My goal of coming to Australia was to tour all over, but my home base was going to be Melbourne," he laughs.

"Turns out I picked the worst state to isolate in."

Watson is part of the nation's burgeoning "van life" community — a social movement of travellers, shirking their reliance on houses and hotels for life on the road.

Taking root in the 1960s, the lifestyle once consigned to hippies and vagabonds is now an industry in and of itself, made up of those looking to invest in their own rolling home, or travellers simply seeking a new way to holiday.

And with the pandemic abruptly changing how we work, alongside an increased push to holiday at home, there's been a renewed interest in the "van life".

"Because you can't travel overseas, we're seeing more and more people decking out their vehicle with at least a bed to just go camping," says Jonny Dustow, co-founder of Vanlife Diaries.

'The best of both worlds is having a base'

For Watson, the decision to buy a van upon arriving in Australia was a no-brainer.

He'd conquered his first foray into the "van life" during a sojourn in Europe some two years prior, and with comedy gigs lined up across the country, the idea of paying rent for a home he'd hardly be in was a tough pill to swallow.

But as borders closed, recommendations turned to restrictions and he began receiving "concerned calls" from his family back home in North America, he admits he began to question whether he could really ride out the pandemic (quite literally) in a van.

A chance encounter with his now-girlfriend, Jasmine (Below), a fellow artist who had invited him to park outside her home in Mornington, Victoria, was the clincher in his decision to stay, he says.

"I figured being I had Jasmine as a safety net with a home in Mornington, if things got too crazy, I would have a wonderful person to lean on," he says.

"And that in fact was the case, I wouldn't have been able to get through it without her."

For those on the road, these sorts of unexpected challenges (albeit, a global pandemic probably wasn't on too many people's bingo list) are all part and parcel of the experience — and a valuable learning curve.

Just ask Dustow, who first dipped his toes into the van life movement some nine years ago.

After deciding he wanted to spend "more time on the road", the travelling musician sold his property and bought a van ("It was the easiest way for us to travel and not worry about booking accommodation and being able to explore towns along the way between playing gigs," he remarks).

But while "getting away from the stress of a mortgage and rent felt amazing", it all came crashing down when he accidentally wrote off his vehicle.

"I didn't get insurance for it and now I didn't have a home and didn't have my rolling home and had to move back with family and save up again for another van," he says.

"The best of both worlds is actually having a base, whether it's somewhere in a town if it's a house that you own or a shed on a farm or something, and then road tripping."

We've just been blown away'

For Megan and Grant Harrison, their van — known affectionately as 'Pamela Van-derson' — has become a home away from home.

While the shift workers are the first to admit they've never been big on camping, their foray into the lifestyle came naturally — if not unintentionally — early last year.

"It actually wasn't originally supposed to be van life. It was more [that] we noticed around our hometown... vans hanging around the beach," offers Megan, who is parked with Grant on the side of the road, en route to the couple's latest holiday.

"And I said to Grant, if we could get a van then you'd have a surf van."

Before they knew it, the plan evolved, and the couple found themselves "travelling and just trying something different", adds Grant.

But while the pair "fell in love" with the lifestyle, it would be remiss to suggest it's been all smoothing sailing (or driving).

Their first trip away was a "baptism of fire", and while they've picked up a few tricks along the way, it has been a steep, and at times expensive, learning curve.

"We came across this injured goat, it'd been hit by a car and basically left on the side of the road to die," says Megan, who pauses before chuckling: "So Grant took it upon himself to deal with the situation.

"He ended up in hospital for two days getting surgery because he hurt himself in the process."

Despite the challenges, for every pitfall, the couple can list off 10 drawcards.

And for Megan, having the opportunity to experience the wonders of Australia first-hand has proven perhaps the most rewarding.

"To be honest, to begin with we were very narrow-minded about it, we didn't think we'd ever want to explore Australia until we were old," she says.

"You think, oh you go overseas and explore all of those countries first, but we've just been blown away by what we've found."

'Work your way into it'

Though you'll encounter varying schools of thought about almost every facet of "van life", if there's one thing those who have done it can all agree on, it's the need to invest in a reliable vehicle.

Because the "lifestyle has become quite popular", Dustow notes, vans have become "a bit more expensive".

But while Megan and Grant admit they shelled out more than they had intended to, they say it was difficult to put a price on peace of mind.

"We didn't want to be stuck and caught somewhere that we're going to have no phone service and no way of getting in and out," says Grant.

"We wanted a van that was trustworthy."

It's a sentiment echoed by Watson, who recalls picking up his first van in the United Kingdom for a steal — only for it to break down within the first six months.

"It broke down in Edinburgh, which is such a beautiful city," he laughs. "So I continued to live out of it for another year and a half just in this parking lot.

"But a little bit of more money up front might save you a headache in the long run."

If there's one thing Dustow has learnt from almost a decade on the road, it's that there's no shame in taking it slow.

It's important to "work your way into it", he says, and get a feel for the vehicle before you purchase.

"I think the best way is if you can just trial it, like even rent a van, take a mate's van for a few nights — there's heaps of people with vans who actually rent it out for the weekend," he says.

"Try it for a couple of weekends, and then you can work out what size you want."

'We never took anything seriously'

Above all, the group notes, is that the lifestyle — and people's experience with it — is ultimately defined by their own attitudes.

Despite taking due diligence in buying a vehicle and investing in the necessities for life on the road, Megan and Grant have encountered their fair share of problems along the way.

But having a "good travel partner", Grant says, makes the challenges pale in significance.

"Most of the time we were bloody laughing, and the whole time we never took anything seriously," he laughs.

"If you're travelling with your best mate, that just makes everything so much better."

If you go into the experience expecting things to go wrong, adds Megan, "that's when they do".

"Like when Grant ended up in hospital for two days and we lost two days of travel, neither of us were cranky about it," she says. "We just laughed at the situation, that's how you have to approach the whole thing."

For Watson, the experience "wasn't at all what I planned it to be".

Instead, he says, it "exceeded my wildest expectations".

"It turns out I picked the worst state to be isolated in... but I fell in love with with Jasmine," he offers.

"If I'd have parked anywhere else, I could have been out and traveling so much sooner. But I would have missed out on on on the wonderful human being that is in my life now."

Below | Matt's trip didn't go to plan, but it led him to meeting his now-girlfriend, Jasmine.

Story By | Bridget Judd


Same | News Story' Author : Staff-Editor-02

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