5 Questions about full time travel in New Zealand
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ค. 2023
- Hey, welcome. This ones a bit different if your new here, we get asked these 5 questions often, so we thought others might find it helpful. These were some of the answers we were seeking when we were in the planning stages of our big adventure. Hopefully there is something helpful here for you.
#fulltimerv #fulltimefamilytravel #travelnewzealand
![เบิ้ล ปทุมราช - อ้ายกินดอง น้องลาบงัว ft. สแน็ก อัจฉรีย์ [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-OK--KaSPcI/mqdefault.jpg)
At $3.5k a month that’s $42,000 a year, so that sounds cheap to me for 5 people. Love following your trip around NZ.
Yea some different associated costs, although we aren't paying rent or a mortgage currently so if you added that on top of $40k be looking at about 60k a year... I guess if shows full time travel can still be expensive. Some people choose to park up and eat very differently we've maintained a pretty normal diet and we're out here to have a good time while we are doing this. Thanks mate, glad your enjoying the journey
really appreciated your honesty around $ budget and also your acknowledgement of privilege. Anyone can do anything if you put your mind to it but the effort will vary according to personal circumstances. I have 21 year old boys who have travelled the whole of Aotearoa (including Rakiura) on a solo parents budget. All sleeping in the back of the station wagon whenever the tent leaked is one of my favourite memories. Your kids (like mine ) will treasure their road trip memories forever and will grow up resilient and appreciate their homeland/people
Oh Awesome. Yep, we are lucky to have this caravan alright, so far it's been awesome to us. We did borrow all the money to buy it as we had paid off a good portion of our cheap mortgage. It's great to be able to make some great family memories alright, in a leaky tent or a car or a DOC hut, all fun times when you look back aye.
We love all your videos! We usually watch your videos on the TV so can't post any comments from there. So going to bombarded your channel with some comments now while I'm on my phone...don't mind me! 🤣
oh awesome... I Reckon they look better on the big screen, some pretty epic scenery around the place.
Great job, looking forward to Mike and Soph's money saving hacks. A dollar saved is a dollar earned.
yes... help us save dollars... You might already know all the =hacks mate.
Thank you for sharing. I would love to do this. Love also watching your videos. In a different situation.almost mortgage free and teenager about to turn 18. Have started saving for a caravan
hey there, I'll answer these questions in your other comment, so it's all answered in 1.
We are just pleased that your kids are getting an awesome chance to bond and learn from you both. But then you are getting to know your children because there are no distractions of work etc. Well done guys. Team Kawerau
Oh yea we are having an awesome time making memories. we are all loving this life style and winter doesn't seem to be changing to much of what we do, do far anyway. Thanks for watching team Kawarau
Really helpful info guys. Thank you 😀
Your welcome, thanks for watching
Great. Video guys your kids are having such a great experience they will never forget keep it up
Cheers guys, yip were pretty lucky alright, great experiences all round
Love your guys honesty and interaction with each other, especially the dork bit we were in stitches 🤣 These memories we are all making is definitely worth it, you only get one chance at life. Winter just requires an extra layer and you keeping your clothes on and keeping out of the freezing rivers/lakes 😜
Funny enough our food bill has dropped since being on the road full time even though the price of everything has rocketed, reckon its cause we don't have our kids coming over and raiding the freezer and fridge and we are not buying as many toilet rolls 😀 Our biggest surprise has been camping fees, we'd budgeted $150 a week but we are only at $5.73 per day, lots of freedom camping for us.
Looking forward to the savings video 👍
Our food Bill goes up because everyone is more active and then more hungry lol... Not having adult/teenage kids raiding your pantry would make a huge difference alright. We are looking forward to the next winter blast coming through, looks like a week away aye, we are pretty excited.
@@leopardsgowild unfortunately we are heading north now, I have a hospital visit 😢 but we will be back down towards end of July, 🤞we’ll get to play in the snow and see the hoar frosts
just did 7 months of 3 adults living in a 2010 swift challenger waiting for our house to be built.... through a rubbish summer...the winter sucked!!! the down side for us was we don't like camping!! and the mud and rain got to us. We also mainly stayed in one place which is the opposite of your idea 🤣 i think if you're doing it to travel then it would be much more fun.
Yes we've said throw the normal stresses of life in, work, school, time frames and that changes everything we love we wake up when we want we don't have house jobs, things in the caravan are much quicker and when are ready to move from an area we do, even if that includes going to the sun 🌞 ☀️ 🌤
Thanks for the honest details about your travels. We are cruising at about the same cost but our three boys have moved on so well done to you! Yes, free spots help heaps and having a short camper gives us a few more free spot options. I would love to have a washing machine but not enough space😢 Keep up the travels and we look forward to your next video. Russell and Amanda
Thanks guys, some days we miss the treats, like a coffee or getting takeaways, i've done a bit of work last week, so maybe we'll go to high country salmon as it was our favourite a few years back, and that will be our treat for the next we while. It's a pity prices have gone up so much, but we're living the dream so can't complain to much.
This was so interesting, thanks guys! This is something we've been considered doing. Very inspiring 🙌
Sweet, well worth the experience, we've loved nearly every minute of it.
Great summary of those common questions and background information. The cost of groceries is certainly getting challenging. Nice to be able to supplement it with the occasional bit of seafood.
Remember to buy some RUCs for the truck before July (pretty sure that's when the price goes back up). You've done pretty well with the weather. Thankfully many of the cold snaps coming up from the south blow through in 24 hours. It's those warmer wet systems coming over from Aussie that can get a bit challenging especially on the West coast. We're finding our caravan feels a lot smaller now that Accalia is growing up and just has here wee bunk behind the curtain. Makes for some quiet early evenings trying to get her to sleep. Still thoroughly enjoy getting away in it though.
Oh good idea about the RUC, I got 15,000 before we started our trip but should get some more while they are still cheaper. We are really looking forward to the cold snap, maybe in a week, looks like it might get real cold. Accalia is at the age, where being in a caravan or a tent is a bit of work aye, keeping them out of things that aren't for them, and getting them to have naps etc. Def gives them a love for camping though.
We just follow all your tips about the free camping. Thanks
Yip, we like to keep it free. i like to get free food as well
Great context info from you both on costs and how you've set yourselves up for the adventures! Like you we took a few years to save and downsize for our journey. We did costs for 5 months of our time in the South Island and agree food costs were easily top of the list (and there's just two of us!). Accommodation (mainly use DOC), Diesel and Insurances (including medical) were each about half the food cost. Enjoy the wanders... and keep warm! 🥶😀
Cheers guys, yep we are pretty lucky to be doing what we are doing so not gonna moan to much, but it is what it is... Been nice to pick up a few weeks work in Twizel which will keep us on the road for another 2 months.... We will be going until the end of Summer at the earliest.
*great informative video. You definitely blew the budget on phone repairs 😂. Keep doing what your doing*
Yep thats true, it's amazing all the different things you spend your money on, I failed to mention the $400 I paid for my music subscription, last month as well.
Thanks for the video, a very informative and honest account of life on the road. The cost of food in Australia has almost doubled in the last year or so and it was common place to see multiple shelves empty. One week there was no red meat and another no potatoes, whole food items just disappeared. At one point we did not have pet food available for nearly two months and this is at the main supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths. Crazy times. Thanks again for the video, looking forward to the next one.
It's common to see egg shelves empty in New Zealand but most other things are well stocked now. Food prices are very high, we've changed what we eat a bit to try and keep our food prices resonable, but then when we look into spending and it's around $350 - $400 a week it's very high, We'd have to eat toast and noodles only, to make a massive dent in the food price.
@@leopardsgowild I have to admit when my daughter and her partner go out for the evening my first thought is I am going to get a steak. You can get a decent tbone for about $15 but bugger buying three of them. I also remember how hard it was feeding a family of five, we had to have a calculator in hand when doing the shopping, times were not easy but you make it work. I used to do a lot of baking, cakes and biscuits etc.
In regards to laundry. You could try using your bathroom as drying room if you have ducted heating. Will have trade cost of gas against commercial drier. Only done it couple times in small UK caravan, was very effective. We were on powered site so electricity was already paid for.
when there is laundry for 5 people you'll never keep up with trying to dry stuff in the Caravan... I reckon better to save time and spend a few bucks and the whole thing is dealt with in a few hours. It's nice in the summer if your at a camp ground and can hang it out to dry
Let Sophie know Toads had cockroach soup last night 😂😂 Go Queensland 😊😊
Queensland 3-0 , let's go!!😊
Awesome life style keep it up!
Yea it's a great lifestyle it's nice knowing your free to go where you want.
If you make it to Glenfield, Auckland, u are welcome to use our 10k washing machine, sorry our section is sloped so can't offer a parking space for camping. Loved your Port Jackson camping videos, we went there and loved it.
Of awesome team. I'm guessing you mean a 10kg machine as opposed to a $10,000 one lol... So not sure where we plan to go when we head back North... Looking forward to it though.
@@leopardsgowild yeah 10 kg 😆
Great video. During our 8 weeks down south recently (just two of us) we found groceries to be much more expensive in the smaller towns. I'd walk around and say 'I'm not paying that!!' but of course if you need it you have to get it. Wise too about google maps to check out where you are going. I always do that and am surprised at how many people don't check in advance. Anyway, well done you two for giving your children such a great life experience.
Yer we use to live in Kaikoura, and food was so expensive 😢
Yea smaller towns that are a long drive else where are more expensive, Twizel has some good reduced to clear food prices, I guess there is nowhere else to send that food from here, but otherwise we drove to the coast to do a large shop to get cheaper food prices...
Kaikoura food was expensive, the next big towns are Blenheim and Christchurch... Hanmer springs was really expensive.
" lots of great videos coming up" hahhahahahaahhaha u guys r great together!!!! i love how u called her a dork and she didnt even care !!!! thanks for all the vids u guys!!! see yah in the next 1!!!!
Well we were best mates for years before we ever started dating and she was being a dork lol... ya gotta have fun aye man
@@leopardsgowild lol definitely... U guys r my fav for lots of reasons ❤️✌️
Hi just found your channel so binge watching here, my question is did you do a cookbook of ideas and meals you all like and can cook in the caravan.
ha ha, glad you found us, we have so many great adventures. We don't have a cook book and I don't follow any recipes either lol... I just guess and try to include most of the main ingredients. But this week I made scones with no milk and no butter lol, I replaced with marg and water and it still worked out.
After done watching this, I was like you guys are a really great parents, very inspiring. Wishing your channel and abundance of growth🙌 😊 I am just wondering, what do you guys use for your internet? If you don't mind me asking is there any good sim for internet especially if going on camping?
Thank you was a big plan and lots of work to get on the road to travel... There are a lot of internet options we use a company called wireless nation which uses cell phone towers. Phone plans with Data are very responsible price here
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
THANKS
Loved the video it was very insightful. Did you guys have to downsize the number of belongings when moving into the caravan? If so was it difficult to do as a family? I feel going to camp America before you started travelling would have made the transition from having lots of storage living in a house to very little storage living in a caravan easier as you could only really take what fitted into suitcases.
We left a lot in our house with no intention of it being there if we ever go back. We struggled to get rid of a lot of precious things we have 2 plastic boxes at my mums with precious items, otherwise it's all in the caravan. Was hard for the kids to, they had pretty much get rid of all their toys and art
I'm thinking of eventually traveling like this on my own. I just wonder what it is like driving a large vehicle and caravan especially when it comes to hills and narrow roads? My other question is how many solar panels do you have and how many would you recommend? Thanks. 😁
Would you want a large caravan for one person you can definitely get very small and much lighter which are easier to tow... I recommend getting as much solar and battery as you can, I'd definitely do lithium. We have 520w solar and 200ah of agm battery seems no one gets enough solar in the South in winter though so you need a generator to top up the batteries or plug into power
@@leopardsgowild Thanks for that. The caravan comes with 2, 100 watt solar panels. I will try to add more. I wanted a bigish caravan as the one I like has a full size oven, fridge and closed off bedroom/bathroom so would be great to live in. I also have 4 older children who would sometimes come on trips too.
Ka pai you guys mean korero 😊😊
Cheers Brother Charles, keep ya eyes out for the next one some more Paua diving... Hopr your well bro. Go the Warriors.
Yous are traveling as a family, so budgeting not easy , for me traveling in a 19 ft 6 in , internal van is easy, had a budget 15 yrs ago ,but that went out the window when I crossed the border, into NSW, Lucky got some good paying jobs, Now semi retired, just do volunteer care driving, so life easy now, Own a small Sapphire mine, Cheap living, Your kids having a wonderful life travelling around, Plus entertaining us. Hope all goes well, Cheers Bevan 🤠❤️🦘🦘🇦🇺
Me and Soph often reflect on travel without the kids, it would be very different... We'll likely get a much smaller, lighter caravan for our travels. Its a lovely lifestyle travelling in a nice caravan around a beautiful country though.
Would love to know how you go with condensation?
Condensation gets pretty bad in the caravan, unless we run the heater all night then nothing.
How much did you save and the planning involved.
Hey thanks for reaching. So we borrowed 100% of the money for the caravan and the truck, luckily I saved a lot buying the ute from my Dad who was upgrading, but we borrowed $140k for the caravan and ute, caravan we paid $106k for brand new.
for living on the road we saved round $50k, through reducing our mortgage payments to minimum, selling our retro caravan and 2x vehicles, took us about 3 years to prepare for everything and that money was to get us through 15 months of travel, start of summer through to the end of the following summer. Not sure what we would have actually spent, because I picked up some work during winter last year, which topped us up.
Don't think you can answer this but somebody in the comments might?
In New Zealand we have the unemployment benefits, which might be an option for those not lucky enough to live of savings?
I know it's a controversial subject, but some families have generations on the benefit, why not for a family to spend time traveling NZ for 6 months?
Im suggesting when I don't know how it would work, so maybe pointless 🤔. But hopefully someone has insight 😊❤
You would need to attend job seeker meetings to qualify for an unemployment benefit... You would need to return to the district you were seeking help from. If you are able to earn some money you may qualify for working for families tax credit... As We both worked the begining of the last finiacial year, we are hoping we will get some money from that.
The groceries doesn't matter where you are they are through the roof 😞
Yea but if you sre in a small community couple of hours from a major town they are always more. Pretty expensive here in Twizel compared to Oamaru where we did our last big shop
@@leopardsgowild as a kid in Twizel mother used to do a trip through to Timaru for a major stockup, maybe every three months or so. Then when she/we got hours there was hours of packing meat etc for the freezer 😂
@Stephen Dickson not sure if you follow our Facebook or Instagram but we literally did that on Tue last week our only problem is we have a caravan freezer, but underneath our bed is loaded with supplies which are most costly in Twizel
@@leopardsgowild HA! I'm only on yt. Get some traps or snares, heaps of rabbits there and they are tasty.
omg is it 9 or 11 i NEED to know.. for your marriage sake
Its 10 days... everyone loses...
This comment made me lol out loud 😅