- Shelley and her partner, Lars shared a love of travel and decided to stop putting their dreams on hold.
- In 2016, they saved up their money, quit their jobs and started travelling the world in a motorhome.
- Seven years and 43 countries later, Shelley and Lars still love their nomadic lifestyle and have shared many exciting adventures together.
- Shelley Roes, 57, from Perth, WA shares her story below.
I watched the rain pelting the window.
“Today’s perfect to make some life plans,” I said to my partner, Lars, 50.
Grabbing a pen and paper, he joined me on the couch. It was 2016, and since meeting online three years earlier, we’d quickly realised we shared a love of travelling.
Read more: World’s most travelled baby!
I was 48 and worked as a primary school teacher, while Lars was an offshore health and safety manager. We were content, but we weren’t fulfilled.
Now we started discussing our future.
“What countries do you want to visit most?” Lars asked me.
“Well, I’d love to see France, Italy, Norway, then America, and obviously Africa,” I listed excitedly.
“When will we do all this? When we’re retired, when we win the lottery?” he laughed.
“I’m tired of these plans always being ‘one day’. Why don’t we make this ‘day one’ instead?” I asked.
That was a lightbulb moment — we realised there was nothing stopping us.
“Let’s just do it,” Lars said.
For nine months we saved every cent and sold most of our belongings. Then we quit our jobs, ended our lease and hit the road — first on a 10-day trip from Perth to Melbourne to say goodbye to our mates.
Friends and family thought we were crazy, but we were following our hearts.
“What if something goes wrong?” one asked.
“Worst case, we come home and get jobs again,” I shrugged.
In April 2017, we flew to Germany where we rented a motorhome and visited 22 countries across Europe. Halfway through our trip we visited Antwerp, Belgium — the city of diamonds.
Standing under the clock tower in the main train station, I turned to find Lars down on bended knee.
“Will you marry me?” he asked.
“Of course!” I cried.
We chose my engagement ring in one of the many jewellery stores in Antwerp.
Six months later, tiring of life on the road, we tried house sitting. We spent a month looking after pets in different villages in England, then travelled to Norway where Lars did some work.
As accommodation was free, it left us with extra money to see the sights.
Standing before the spectacular Northern Lights, I knew we’d made the right decision.
“It’s like being on a different planet,” I whispered to Lars.
“It’s magical,” he agreed.
Next, we entered a real-life fairytale, house sitting a chateau in France for nine months. There, we minded chooks and sheep, and spent days exploring the Dordogne region.
Next up was a road trip through Ireland, Iceland, Estonia and Uzbekistan.
In our third year of travelling, we flew back to Australia and spent three months house sitting in Perth. There, we had our wedding at Jackadder Lake. Eighty of our loved ones enjoyed a buffet picnic
around the lake after the ceremony.
Days later, I sold my wedding dress, and we discussed our next destination.
“I’ve dreamed of seeing the wildlife of Africa,” Lars told me.
“Me too,” I smiled.
In January 2020, we landed in South Africa and bought “Bucky”, a second-hand 4×4 ute from a safari company. Attaching a rooftop tent, we called it home.
But our travels halted within two months when the country went into lockdown, so we house sat in the remote town of Prince Albert.
After five months, we drove to Klaserie Nature Reserve. Staying in a cabin in the bush, there were no fences to keep wildlife out. We never went out after dark — that’s hunting time for the animals —
but we loved driving around, watching them roam.
One afternoon, an elephant and her little calf walked right up to our truck. The huge mother stopped outside the window and fed her baby right next to us. It was remarkable.
Not every moment was so enchanting. One day, watching a herd of buffalo at the river, I noticed they were agitated. Pulling out my binoculars, I looked left and nearly screamed. Through the eyepiece, I
saw a leopard staring right at me. I slowly backed away so she wouldn’t see me as prey.
Lars saw me and came running.
“What is it?” he cried.
“Get back!” I whispered urgently.
Thankfully, we returned to our cabin safely, but the leopard watched us intently for another half hour.
After two months, funds were running low. Putting Bucky into storage, Lars took another job in Norway, and we spent the next year house sitting there.
Enjoying Europe, we then house sat for another year in Scotland, exploring the highlands and castles.
In December 2022, we returned to South Africa. Camping for 60 days in Botswana, we perfected our nomadic lifestyle, washing our clothes in buckets and cooking over camp fires.
One day, Lars and I were standing stark naked in the outdoor shower when we heard a lion’s roar.
“That sounded close,” Lars whispered. “Let’s hop in the car and check it out.”
We flung on our clothes and raced to Bucky — only to realise the lion was just metres away. We were safe in the car, but if we hadn’t heard its roar, it would have found us naked in the shower. We’d
have been an easy lunch!
It didn’t scare us off though — we camped another 60 days in Namibia.
In May 2023, we put Bucky into storage and returned to Perth to work on our travel blog, Lifejourney4two. Buying another 4×4, we now live between our two homes on wheels.
Already thrifty, we’ve learned to travel on a shoestring budget, surviving on around $1300 each month. Our nomadic lifestyle has made our lives much less stressful. Instead of being weighed down
with debt, we’re living life to the fullest.
Seven years and 43 countries later, we have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
I encourage anyone dreaming about “one day” to make it day one instead.
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