Looking at going on the big lap?

Hi

How are you?

The thing that I've seen that stops most families from going on their big lap is not knowing where to start with the planning, or starting in the wrong place and then wondering why it's not coming together.

I've helped a lot of families work through this. And the ones who actually leave all have one thing in common — they sorted things in the right order.

Here are a few tips that might help:

Step 1 — Work out your timeframe

This might seem really, really obvious — but you need to know how long you can actually go for. Can you go for a week? A month? The full year?

I'm talking about you. Not everybody else out there on the internet. Their life is going to be their life, so never compare your trip to someone else's Instagram feed. Your timeframe shapes every single decision that comes after it.

You might also decide to do a few shorter trips, that's ok too!

Step 2 — Work out your daily number

Everybody wants that one magical number. The honest answer is that anything you find online is not going to be your number.

There are three things that will consume the majority of your budget:

Fuel — you can adjust this by doing fewer kilometres per day, or staying in one spot for longer

Accommodation — caravan parks or free camping? We do about a week off-grid, then jump into a caravan park mid-week. Mid-week saves so much money.

Food — this is the sneaky one. The more remote you get, the more expensive it gets. And if you like eating out at home, that mentality will follow you on the road.

We averaged $700 a week over 11 months. Some weeks $2,000, some weeks $100. Build your daily number first, then work back to your savings goal.

A quick word from the sponsor of this newsletter:

Step 3 — Sort the life admin

Life back home does not stop just because you're travelling (unfortunately!!). Your health insurance, mortgage, council rates, and storage all keep going. And this is the one that catches most families out because they forget to factor it in.

Medicare, Centrelink, mail redirection, school exemptions, ambulance cover (heads up — yours is very likely state only, so check that one), subscriptions, bank accounts.

None of it is hard. It just takes time. So start it well before your leave date.

How ready are you for the big lap? Click here to take the free interactive quiz! ​

Step 4 — Sort your van and setup

You don't need the Instagram-perfect rig. You need whatever matches your comfort level and your budget. On-road or off-road will shape your whole route, so think about where you actually want to go.

And I always recommend doing at least one short test trip before the big one. Finding out something doesn't work in the middle of nowhere is a very expensive lesson.

(see Tim's maintenance guide here if you haven't seen it yet)

Step 5 — Now plan your route

The route comes last. Once you know how long you're going, what you can spend, what you're doing with the house, and how your van is set up, the route finally makes sense.

It builds around the real constraints of your life instead of someone else's highlight reel. And that's when planning it becomes actually fun.

The families who do this are not richer, braver, or better organised than you. They just sorted it in the right order.

If you want to work through this properly

I've put together the Big Lap Starter Course to walk through all five of these in detail — the timeframe, the money, the life admin, the van setup, and the house situation.

It's not a massive course. It's a series of short videos that get you from "we want to go" to "we have an actual plan." Each one covers one piece of the puzzle in the order that makes sense to save you some time.

​Have a look at the starter course →​

Have a lovely week,

Tim & Margie

P.S. I'm adding in the " When Do We Go " workbook until:

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​Find out more here​