Surge in young families caravanning

SURGE IN YOUNG FAMILIES CARAVANNING

A new surge of Australian families are road-tripping the country, and some are even abandoning their aspirations of home ownership to fund their adventure.

Melbourne locals the Sutic family sold their family home in Officer, Melbourne, to purchase a caravan. They're currently on the road with their two young children Tilly and Mila aged four and two respectively.

“Last year we decided to just do it — we sold everything,” Mrs Sutic said.

“We thought there was no better time than the present to explore the country... People don’t realise what beautiful places we have right on our doorstep — you just have to go out and discover them.

“The kids are absolutely loving the adventure, especially the trips to the beach — we’ve already booked in to finish up our lap at Broulee just in time for Christmas.”

Although they haven't opted to sell their home, Queensland-based travellers the Waine family have also decided to spend more time exploring their backyard by caravan. This Christmas they spent 11 days at Soldiers Point holiday park in New South Wales, which the family says it has been visiting since the 80s.

“Our family loves so many things about caravanning at Soldiers Point. The holiday park is set up so well for families,” Mrs Waine said.

“The park is right across the road from a beautiful beach with crystal clear water and it’s great for fishing and spending time on the beach as a family — it’s well worth the three-day road trip from Mackay to get there.”

“My husband and I take my son to Soldiers Point to carry on the family caravanning tradition.”

The two families aren't alone in choosing to caravan and camp in Australia. New data from Tourism Research Australia has revealed national overnight domestic caravan and camping trips have increased by 3.5 per cent reaching 11.84 million visitors rolling annually.