How We (and Other Families) Actually Fund the Big Lap

13 September 2026

Inside this newsletter👉

• How families top up their travel funds by working in the towns along the way
• FIFO rosters and remote jobs, and what that actually looks like on the road
• The real numbers behind our own freelance and online income

Good morning from Adelaide,

One of the questions we get asked more than almost anything else is how do you actually fund a trip this long?

We've covered the budgeting side plenty of times, but this one's about the income side, what other families on the road are doing, and what we do ourselves.

Here is the video version:

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Stopping to Work as You Go

Once you've got your route sorted, have a look at the little towns along the way and see if they need anyone to help out. A lot of bakeries, cafes, pubs and caravan parks have signs on the door saying they need staff. Jump into the local Facebook groups for the areas you're heading to first, so you're not just winging it.

Plan to stay a week, two weeks, maybe a month, top up your funds to what you actually need, then get back on the road. It's a bit stop and start, but it keeps you moving without needing the whole trip saved up before you leave.

FIFO, Remote Work and Freelancing

If casual work as you go isn't for you, there's also asking your boss if you could take your job online, or looking at FIFO work. We've met plenty of families funding their travels this way, one adult flies out for their roster while the other holds down the fort in the caravan, then they swap back.

By trade I'm a writer, so freelancing is what does the heavy lifting for us. I pick up projects for other companies and work from wherever we happen to be parked.

A quick word from our sponsor today:
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The Real Numbers From Our Own Online Income

Full disclosure, our YouTube channel makes us about $250 or so a month, and our Facebook page, which has about eight and a half thousand followers, earns roughly $200 to $250 a month through its monetisation program.

It's not huge for the effort that goes into it on its own, freelancing is what does the real work, ad revenue and affiliate marketing just top it up.

One real word of warning too, if an online income promise sounds too good to be true, it is. For 99.9% of people, "make money in your sleep" courses don't actually work that way.

If you're interested, here are a few articles to have read:

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​How to Find Casual Work While You Travel Australia​
​FIFO Work or Taking Your Job Remote: Another Way to Fund Your Big Lap​

Have a lovely day
Margie

PS if you want to work out your own real weekly number for the trip, our budget planner can help with that here.