The Grey Nomads......

Some friends have returned from a two-year trip around Australia. They are both in their late forties and decided to take a few years off to explore the country and work as they went. It was fascinating to listen to their story and I am presently encouraging them to start a travel blog before they commence out on their next adventure so that I can read about it as they go.
As some of you know, Mr J and I traveled through a lot of Australia with three children years ago however, we were always restrained by time, extended school holidays and space. I have often wondered what it would be like to have endless time to explore what and where one chose to go. This couple towed a caravan to Cairns in Queensland at the start of autumn and spent two months there. They did some house sitting out on a cattle property for six weeks after Cairns, an opportunity which they came across over the Internet. Apparently the house-sitting chores included watering the gardens and feeding the family pets while the owners took a much needed holiday overseas. They had never been on a cattle property before and found the experience wonderful. Then they moved back out to the coast to Airlie Beach in the Witsundays, working here a couple of days; fishing and sailing the rest. Some time later they moved on to the Sunshine Coast where they picked up some work three days per week in a club and spent their spare time fishing and enjoying the beaches and mountains around Caloundra. Eventually they headed further south stopping along the way in various places including Coffs, Sydney, Canberra, down to Melbourne and over to Tasmania where they spent the three months of summer. From what I can gather three months in Tassie is not long enough to experience everything that you read or see on shows such as "Get Away" etc. so they plan to head back there in a futre summer. The wife worked as a receptionist and the husband was employed crewing on a fishing boat. The other four days per week were spent at their leisure. One of the comments they made was that there was a wonderful feeling of not being rushed with life and not having to be anywhere at any particular time. If they decided to stay on for another week or month, they did. That thought appealed to me. How great to rise in the morning and decide to take a cuppa, a fishing line and a book to sit on the beach all day. Or perhaps today seems like a nice day to go for a hike up into the mountains. I wonder if one would get sick of the lifestyle or perhaps moving on to new towns changes that.
They moved on through the Nullabor Plains and made their way across the continent to Western Australia. Working and travellng north they ended up in Broome and drove through the Kimberly's to Darwin. Working part time gave them enough money to keep moving so that they would not diminish their savings. Of course you can not always get work everywhere you go but then other places have a lot available from what I have read. This couple said that they enjoyed being Grey Nomads. They loved the lifestyle and opportunities of making new friends because the social side of this sort of life is very prominent in that Gray Nomads people share their experiences and activities with each other when they meet up at van parks and rest stops. Jude said there was always "happy hour" at someone’s van any night to share stories and experiences and they have caught up with many of their fellow travelers since coming back home, which was two years later. Meeting up with other travelers would also give them access to valuable information and help I should imagine.
So I came home and had a hunt on the Internet to discover exactly what a Gray Nomad was and read some wonderful stories. It seems that some of them travel indefinitely, choosing to spend winters up north and summers down south (now that appeals to me lol), others take a few shorter trips each year and finally there is another group who “work” their way around the continent, such as the couple in the story above. I was amazed at the numbers and statistics on the Internet. Some 17,000 caravans per year are sold (new and second hand) to undertake this sort of lifestyle. Apparently some 350,000 motor homes, tents and vans roam the country at any given time; I guess baby boomers all have to retire at some stage however Mr J once made a comment about the advantages of not waiting until retirement, which is what this couple did. I was amazed to read just how many couples are "nomading" and surprizingly more and more are people are opting out of the rat race for a few years. It sounds and reads like a culture in itself. I must say after researching the Internet and some books, the idea that “the horizon doesn’t finish where the sun goes down” (their moto) certainly is attractive to me. Perhaps it is a case of embracing the unknown rather then taking the safe and usual mid-age and retirement paths.
I can think back to years ago when young people and back packers did the same thing. They worked as they traveled from town to town and state to state. Now it would seem the Grey Nomads are doing the same thing or similar with their travels. It is exciting to think we are all still young enough to embark out on new adventures. We all have many life experiences behind us now and time in front of us. And it doesn't end there...in North America the Grey Nomads are referred to as “Snow Birds” as they camp and travel all through Canada and the United States. A lot of Aussies, upon finishing their Australian travels, become snow birds. I imagine that Europe would have a similar group of travelers but I have yet to read about them, although we are following the van travels of one Aussie couple (via their Internet blog) who are currently travelling through Europe and Russia). I like the concept of meeting and mixing with new people who are also undertaking a new journey; of letting go of our boundaries and packing up to just “go”. It would certainly be a courageous undertaking at first I imagine. Perhaps it is like many things in life....we just need to make the decision and just do it and there is certainly a lot of country to see, water to fish and snorkel in, parks to hike through, areas to sail around, scenes to photograph, roads to travel on and experiences to be had.