Home[less], Sweet Home[less]

I think that this little nugget of an update serves as an excellent supplement to my previous one. Before the title of this blog alarms anyone who’s been following my story, and thus my descent further into the life of a dirty backpacking degenerate, allow me to inform you: I GOT A CAR! Well, correction, WE got a care. After spending our spectacular Plan-less New Year’s Eve in Sydney together, my two lovely Swedish cohorts (Lina and Johanna) and I decided that the 3 of us are all about living the plan-less lifestyle. Therefore, we decided that it was in everyone’s best interest to invest in a vehicle. Or as we call it. Home. At this moment in time, I’m going to need anyone reading to put on their no-judging pants. Sure it’s not glamorous or the ideal lifestyle that anyone wishes a college graduate to be living, but let me counter any worries that you may be having about this: we’re having an awesome time and are super pumped for the adventures that lie ahead of us! And driving on the other side of the road. That’s an interesting one that’ll take getting used to…

Like the majority of how we operate, we made a game time decision on the car and within 3 days of deciding “hell yeah let’s live out of an old station wagon and travel around wherever we feel like!”, we found the newest member of our little family. Allow me to introduce him to you: (name pending), our maroon 1994 Toyota Corolla wagon, for the even more amazing price of $750 AUD. Yes, the price should set off alarms to us about the quality, but I assure you that (I think) it’s completely legitimate, and a safe(ish) vehicle. The motor was just replaced last year, and the only real reason that the woman wanted to get rid of it, and for so cheap, was because she got a new car and was tired of putting money into our beast. Whatever it is, it works in our benefit!

Our lovely home that we’re living out of comes complete with these fine features:

11)   Pantry: underneath the car where we store our cans of food over night so that we have more sleeping room

22)   Laundry room: the windows and hood where we hang all of our wet clothes and towels

33)   Master bedroom: back of the station wagon where 2 of us sleep

44)   Guest bedroom: front passenger seat for the 3rd person

55)   Storage closet: driver’s seat and spaces underneath the backseat where we store our stuff when we convert it from epic station wagon to luxury hotel room

66)   Bathroom cabinet: glove compartment where we store our toothbrushes and deodorant for easy access

77)   Library: underneath the passenger seat where we store our books

88)   Curtains: sarongs and towels we put up over the windows at night to prevent any creepers from watching us sleep. Cause I know I look great when I’m snoring with drool all over my face.

After spending the last few nights sleeping in the car, we’ve come to find that our car is basically a transformer. We’ve become very efficient at bedtime transitioning it from backpacker ghettomobile to a kinda spacious sleeping quarters—it’s pretty small, so when all 5’4” of me are cramped in the back, you know that it’s not going to be too pleasant for 2 6-foot tall Swedish gals.

Our tentative plans for now are to head up to the Whitsunday Islands within the next couple weeks after we regrettably have to drop a few hundred dollas on re-registering the car, getting jobs to replenish ye olde bank accounts, and then travelling up and down the coast and having epic adventures along the way! Also, as it is not the most glamourous of lifestyles that we're living, our credo has become "NO SHAME NO DIGNITY NO HOME." 

Stay tuned for a detailed list of all the ridiculous things we've been doing to survive as backpackers. A little hint to whet your palette: our morning breakfast of oatmeal (a 99 cent bag from Aldi, of course) is made by going into gas stations and using their hot water from the coffee machines and cups we got from McDonald's the night before. No shame. No dignity. No home. But plenty of fun!