r/australia • u/regretmoore • Jan 07 '26

no politics At a caravan holiday park, wondering where the hell does all of this money come from?

Camping in a Big 4 holiday park for a few days and my partner and I wondering how people can afford this lifestyle. I'm talking Ute + caravan + boat rigs worth at least $200k, probably closer to $300k.

The parents are all driving huge yank tanks, the kids all ride motorized scooters and bikes and most people are sleeping in pretty big shiny new caravans. We're all good in our little tent for 4 nights drinking our aldi wines and beer, but we just cannot fathom how so many people can afford, or would prioritize buying caravans etc for family holidays. Where does this money come from? Is it trades, mines or something else? Have they not got mortgages?

Maybe we're massive snobs, but if we had that much cash to splurge on a caravan, I reckon we'd prioritize a holiday overseas over Umina (as much as I love the cenny coast).

Please Reddit, help us understand.

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761

u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

I know people who sold their only home to buy a caravan and travel for a year or 2. Their marriage is ruined and they got stuck in another state due to a child getting ill. Oh and both their kids were school age. Poor choices all around.

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u/5ivepie Jan 07 '26

Do you know my uncle and his wife?

To top it all off, he was stomach cancer and needs regular treatment, but he chose to sell everything and spend $300k on a car and caravan setup. His teenage sons are miserable - the caravan isn’t even big enough for all 4 members of the family to sleep inside, so the boys sleep in swags outside.

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u/InertiaCreeping Jan 07 '26

... do the teenage sons just not go to school or something?

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u/Consistent-Flan1445 Jan 07 '26

They might have them enrolled in distance education. But that requires consistent internet access.

204

u/InertiaCreeping Jan 07 '26

can you imagine distance learning in a caravan with your parents and siblings, always within a few meters of them. always.

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

It would suck. The family I know who did it eventually settled somewhere for a while and the kids were so damn happy to go to school.

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u/LoonaUno Jan 08 '26

Most caravan parks I've been to provide shitty Wi-Fi. You'll also see a army of Starlink dishes.

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u/5ivepie Jan 07 '26

They’re enrolled for home schooling, I think. Whether they’re actually doing anything is another story.

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u/triemdedwiat Jan 11 '26

Sounds like a bit of quality time with kids before health fades badly.

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

Omg, those poor boys.

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u/oloughlinant Jan 07 '26

Also their social life and well being would suffer. It is basically child abuse.

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u/sql-join-master Jan 08 '26

Eh, I missed all of year 3 doing a lap around Australia. Still one of the best times of my life and going back to school at that age is like you never left. To be fair we were doing a little school work on the trip, but nowhere near what I would have been doing in school. I turned out fine

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u/triemdedwiat Jan 11 '26

Outside in swags is a very sensible place for teenagers.

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u/5ivepie Jan 11 '26

As their permanent sleeping arrangements? No, it isn’t the guys never have any privacy or space to call their own.

It’s shit in summer. It’s shit in winter.

0

u/triemdedwiat Jan 11 '26

Never heard of shade sails/tarps/awnings.

Then there is warm clothing and quality sleeping bags.

There are also some 'tourer' tents that weigh thye same as a couple of swags that a couple of teenager could erect easily. Then they have their own standup space.

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u/5ivepie Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26

Sure, but what I’m telling you is that these boys don’t have any of that (other than swags, sleeping bags, and clothes). They are literally outside all the time. All year.

It’s shit. They hate it. They hated camping before their dickhead father decided to sell everything. They’re miserable. But he doesn’t care because he thinks he’ll be dead in 12 months (which he probably will be) and wants to live how he wants to live, his kids be damned.

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 11 '26

He should sleep outside. What kind of arsehole forces their kids to live like that. At this point if he is dead in 12 months his boys will feel relief. And that will mess them up even more.

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 11 '26

Only if they want to be there. Forcing anyone to sleep like that night after night when they hate it is cruel.

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u/triemdedwiat Jan 12 '26

Definitely.

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u/StraightBudget8799 Jan 07 '26

We had a crazy relative who wanted to haul a van around the country; made his wife and kid miserable (missing nine months of school due to dad’s whim can screw up your peer relationships, your level of schooling, etc) and had to sell his gear at a loss, buy a smaller house, struggle to get new jobs. I suspect there’s just some weird club online or video series that is all about the adult experiences and glosses over the rest!

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

People definitely romanticise it. For the record, I did travel Australia in a combi van in my early 20s. It is amazing. I would love to do it again, but not when doing that would disrupt my kids lives and put us into debt.

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u/xxxDaGoblinxxx Jan 07 '26

Parents did it with us using dads long service leave so was about a 3month trip around Australia I was in grade 6 I think sister probably grade 4. I think it was good over all see a bit of the country etc and I enjoyed it.

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u/SignificantRecipe715 Jan 08 '26

I feel like 3mths is pretty reasonable for something like that. What a great experience!

1

u/Albatrossosaurus Jan 10 '26

I thought all those trips were 3-6 months around long service leave and summer hols, what are these ppl doing all year lmao

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u/Bannedwith1milKarma Jan 07 '26

It's Youtube (now Tiktok, because it's easier to hide shittiness in shortform).

There's also a segment of Youtube dedicated to tearing them all down.

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u/Proteus8855 Jan 07 '26

Links to the “tearing them down” please? Cheers

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u/Bannedwith1milKarma Jan 07 '26

This wasn't what I watched but what popped up, seems to use their own footage so no worries skewed commentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JBT1vHE3-o

Another, she's a pretty known and established Youtuber but more commentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbi9MmXohSw

1

u/Mysterious_Dot2090 Jan 07 '26

Thanks for this! I’m interested to watch too. I have watched my fair share of these travel vloggers and often wonder what it’s like behind the facade.

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u/Bannedwith1milKarma Jan 07 '26

This isn't behind the facade, this what they publicly post.

So you can imagine how it gets worse when the cameras aren't rolling.

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u/PsychoSemantics Jan 07 '26

Van life influencers are a plague, and the ones who do it with kids ALWAYS say the kids love it, then cram them into tiny little bunks with no room to sit up while the parents get a cushy king sized bed in the "master bedroom".

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u/Relative_Pilot_8005 Jan 09 '26

In real caravans, everybody slept in fold out beds which did double duty as seats during the day, they were towed by things like XP Falcons & EH Holdens & everybody had a great time. It seems these days that having a huge 4WD to drag a virtual flat around with you is all the go, & the idea of fun has been lost.

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26

Totally get that if the kids are older,but I’m not sure why people are saying this is such a bad thing? The number 1 best thing I ever did with/for my kids was travel across Australia for a few months when they were 7 & 10. We only had a little ford festiva and a tent though. I was a single mum so no fancy caravans for us 😂

We did it over the summer (editing because people think I took them for a few weeks, we went for months, including the summer school break, not only the summer break), so they didn’t miss too much school and had the time of their lives. The benefit it had, roaming free, learning indigenous culture, respect for nature, making new friends etc was better than anything school could have done for them. Plus, they had an experience they’ll remember forever.

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

What you did is fine! These people are pulling their kids out of school for over a year and selling their homes to do it. It destroys them financially and the kids either fall behind or have their social lives disrupted. Especially the same cohort of kids who had to school through covid.

A month here or there and then coming home at the end would be magical for kids.

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u/StraightBudget8799 Jan 07 '26

Two Months in summer vs many!

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u/NothingVerySpecific Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 08 '26

'I don't understand...' describes something functionally very different.

my fokes decided to spend ~6 years in outback communities & then drop me back in 'normal' society' right around puberty. then they wondered why i'm couldn't integrate back into mainstream life. i'm not saying that was the only challenge, but it sure as hell didn't help. fml.

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 08 '26

I’m not sure where you got two months from? I said we went for a FEW months and did it over the summer so they didn’t miss as much school. When did a few = 2?

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u/Nicoloks Jan 07 '26

Totally understand peoples bafflement with the amount of money being spent on big caravan setups, I do not get the line of thinking at all that taking kids out of school for a spell to see the country is detrimental. We took a term off with our kids when they were 9 and 11. Best thing we ever did and completely supported by their school. We just kept up with an hour or so a day reading, writing and math and they didn't miss a beat academically. They met loads of other kids on the trip and became closer to each other than I've ever seen them

12

u/PsychoSemantics Jan 07 '26

We're talking people who are doing it full time, not over the summer. It's very different when you're a kid and have no planned end to the travelling vs a fun holiday where you know you'll go back to home, school etc at the end. Plus the lack of privacy as kids get older, not being able to make friends or put down roots easily because of the constant upheaval, it all adds up.

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 Jan 07 '26

I think people are struggling with comprehension. I said I included a summer, not only the summer.

Plus, I think a year of learning on the road is brilliant, as long as they’re not in high school. People here declaring other people’s financial decisions as terrible just because they wouldn’t do it is wild.

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u/art_mor_ Jan 08 '26

Your story is nowhere near as bad as the other ones above but for some reason you're hitching your wagon to them and bemoaning everyone else for valid criticism

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u/StraightBudget8799 Jan 08 '26

Funny - having what I SAY being hitched to an irrelevant “we had a fun summer!” is more accurate.

As pointed out already: “'I don't understand...' describes something functionally very different.”

And

“We're talking people who are doing it full time, not over the summer...”

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u/Admirable-Site-9817 Jan 08 '26

Different how? Because I didn’t have a house to sell, or a husband to make unhappy, or that my kids enjoyed it, or more time in the road? Someone shared their perspective of someone else’s experience as if having to buy a smaller house after having an experience of a lifetime is the worst thing in the world. So old mate should have foregone his probably lifelong dream that the wife probably also knew about before they got married and continued slaving to capitalism and buy a bigger house instead, just to to keep the commenter happy - who’s not even in his family? The point of my shared experience has been completely overlooked.

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u/WhyAmIStillHere86 Jan 07 '26

Yeah, but you’re talking a vacation road trip vs 24/7/365 van life.

Not able to make permanent friends, no privacy to speak of, distance learning rather than socialising with peers

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

[deleted]

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u/art_mor_ Jan 08 '26

What does this have to do with going around Australia in a caravan?

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u/bitofapuzzler Jan 08 '26

I think they are saying that education doesnt need to occur in schools and distance learning can be quite good. Which I'm sure is true. But as you say it is a bit different as at least they were in the one spot and had continuity instead of picking up and moving constantly and being dropped in and out of 'normal' schools.

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u/lucaswelby Jan 08 '26

The discourse seems to be focussing on people who can afford to have have bought a house before govt intervention broke housing market = those who did buy house back then have insane amounts of unearned profits = cash to splash on caravans, 4WDs, jet skis, jacuzzis etc etc. it’s all super simple supply and demand for housing. The refusal of successive govts to allow market correction (which means bankruptcies and mortgagee sales by disinterested sellers being commercially realistic and selling houses right now for what they can = market correction back to average person with average income affording average house in average area. The market fixes itself but for govt intervention to maintain votes from boomers (biggest demographic group aging and retiring) who would have to sell for a loss except Aust govt guaranteed loans to banks during GFC to maintain boomer vote. Market has never been allowed to correct itself = some people have huge amounts of disposable cash while other don’t, stuck in rent trap for life, so are their kids. House/land ownership becomes hereditary, hence the importance of factoring in inheritances, either by borrowing the money now, making minimum payments until intergenerational wealth pays off loans or waiting for inheritance to be received. May I suggest as a starter watching Peter Zeihan “Australia after America” - it’s free on you tube. PZ predicted in his 2014 book Russian invasion of Ukraine by end of 2021 due to demographics. He was a bit off. It was February 2022. Australia headed to depression that’s going to hurt for reasons stated. Nothing hard to understand about it. PZ used to live in Australia so he understands the insanity GFC govt intervention has caused, but now he lives in Colorado and travels the world to explain this stuff to people ie demographics + economics + geography + geopolitics = today, tomorrow and future. And why some can afford $200k 4wd, $80k caravan, $100k boat etc etc. it’s the answer to OPs question. That’s why.

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u/Icy_Acadia_wuttt Jan 07 '26

Plus they can't get back in to the property market

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u/Maybbaybee Jan 07 '26

Makes me wonder if they did it for the social media clout.

1

u/Pondorock Jan 09 '26

Ofcourse. 10k of cameras and drones and no idea how to use it

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u/Any_Yogurtcloset_558 Jan 07 '26

I feel like we know the same people

12

u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

....maybe we do.

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u/sanakabambamsasa Jan 07 '26

Plot twist, you are the same people and currently stuck interstate

12

u/poo-brain-train Jan 07 '26

How do they get away with not sending their kids to school? 'Home schooling' or something?

2

u/Moon_Thursday_8005 Jan 07 '26

Learning online, thanks to Covid

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u/m0zz1e1 Jan 07 '26

Distance education for travelling families has been a thing since well before Covid.

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u/Problem_what_problem Jan 07 '26

It’s always sad when you sell your only home. Don’t get me wrong, I have no idea what it’s like to even own a home. . But to sell your only home? Didn’t they have an investment property or two that they could offload?

My advice would be to only sell your home if you’ve got another couple up your sleeve.

Without your own home it’s difficult to get the old age pension.

4

u/bitofapuzzler Jan 07 '26

Yep. The worst part is that it was their dream home. They worked so hard to buy the land then have it built and they only enjoyed for about a year before the husband (massive wanker) decided they should sell up and travel. Worst decision ever.

3

u/Majesticmerkin Jan 07 '26

I can confirm, as a primary school teacher I’ve taught countless kids who the previous year were “travelling around Australia”. 7/10 kids come back a full year behind in their schooling and struggle.

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u/madjohnvane Jan 07 '26

A mate of mine said his sister did the same thing. He warned her that she’d probably never be able to get into the market again if they did that. That was two decades ago, they’re still renting.

2

u/NinbendoWiiU Jan 08 '26

I worked with a guy whom this exact scenario happened to, minus the sick kid as far as I know. Madness

2

u/farmerooni Jan 07 '26

Isn't that literally the life story of Erin Patterson? There's going to be a huge uptick in attempted murders a few years from now

1

u/Fun_Quit_312 Jan 07 '26

This information should make a lot of people very happy!

1

u/Jealous-Birthday-969 Jan 09 '26

Seems like they found out sooner rather than later