In a previous post I talked all about the different set ups that you could have when doing a trip like this, from a motorhome right through to a car with a tent in the boot. It’s all part of the research, figuring out what you need and then what you want… and then what you can afford.

So we’ve been through that process… over and over (and over) again. We think we’ve narrowed down what we want… we’re now at the ‘what can we afford stage’.

Here’s the low-down:

What’s our ideal set-up?

We’ve decided to go with the 4WD vehicle towing a camper trailer.

Here’s the reasons why we think this will be the the best set-up for us:

• We want to free camp as much as possible
• We’d like to go to some of the remote places (which are often off-road) as much as possible
• We’ll be working online, recording our journey and sharing regular updates (so we need power for our laptops and camera gear)
• We want/need somewhere to be able to sit and work even when it’s pouring rain
• We don’t want to be travelling at a too fast pace. We’d like to think there’ll be times where we can set up camp and stay for a couple of days and do day trips in the surrounding area.
• We hate sleeping on an air mattress (as in, we don’t sleep and by the morning we’re just mad with each other :-O)

There is only one must-have feature of the vehicle /camper trailer and that is that it must have a secondary battery system. Ideally it will be to run a portable fridge, but the top priority is to be able to charge up laptops, phones and camera equipment. (I know I make it sound like we’ve got some big production going on… when I say ‘camera equipment’, at this point that means an iPhone, possibly a 360° camera or Go-Pro, and hopefully in the not-too-distant future, a drone.)

Gosh, even then we’re negotiable on that. If we have to stay in caravan parks the whole time in order to get power, so be it. The important thing for us is that we get on the road.

Below is what we would have in an ideal world:

• 4×4 Landcruiser Prado Turbo Diesel or similar fitted with snorkel, winch, long range fuel tanks and dual battery.
• Camper trailer* with water tank, kitchen unit on the tailgate and a fridge. I’d love a hard floor camper, but I know that on our budget, I’m dreaming.
• We’ll also have a compressor, solar panels to charge the battery and maybe a generator too
• And then we’d love to have mountain bikes and kayaks and Ben would love a dinghy. But they’re on the dreaming / too hard / too expensive list at the moment.

However, we know we can’t afford all that. You can check out our budget here, and I’m sure you’ll quickly agree that we can’t have everything on the list above. So there’s going to be a lot of compromise going on.

What we have done is to list out all the wants and prioritise them by how important we think they are to our trip (cos really, they’re all ‘wants’, there’s nothing on here that’s a deal breaker… except, I s’pose, the fact that we must have a vehicle).

Here’s our list (if you’re on a phone this is really small… you might need to get onto a computer to read this, because I don’t know how to add a table into WordPress so that it adjusts the size. Sorry)

Priority Rating:

1. High on the list, don’t really want to compromise on this
2. Don’t really want to do without it but if it’s too expensive, we will consider leaving it out, understanding that it could change the way we travel.
3. Would like to have this but it’s not super important
4. We recognise that this is not likely to happen but we’d like it if it’s included…for free
5. You’re dreamin…

So there you have it, what we’d like and how we’ve prioritised those ‘wants’.

I can’t wait until I get to update this post with what we’ve actually got and how it’s going for us. It should only be three months before this is a reality for us. So little time… yet so long to wait!

Camper trailer* – I’ve seen what we call a camper trailer is actually a tent trailer, which actually sounds more accurate to me. But everyone, including manufacturers, are calling them camper trailers. Anyway, just in case you were confused…