Welcome to the Family
Well, we finally made the leap. For the past few years, Alessandra and I have spoken about travelling Australia and the world - adventuring and logging our sojourns in pictures and paintings and writings - and now, we are making our daydream a reality. This blog will act as a record of our efforts, discoveries, celebrations and pitfalls as we romp around this beautiful world, and, we hope, spread joy to those who follow along.
As this is the first post, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to introduce Pumbaa, our trusty old bus, as well as a little of his own story, and our plans of what is to come.
Pumbaa arrived at our doorstep January 2nd, heralding the new year and all the opportunity it will undoubtedly bring. We had already spent months scrutinising vans and buses on facebook marketplace, to no avail. Then, one hot day in mid-December, we stumbled upon Pumbaa, and it immediately felt right. He was being sold by a couple looking to continue their travels overseas, after spending two years touring the breathtaking Australian landscape in him. The couple, Dan and Julie (you can find them on instagram under the handle ‘somewhat gypsea’), were the kind of people you can’t help but like. They had an easygoing air, with an openness and genuineness that is rare to come by. They gave us the grand tour of Pumbaa, who was as heavy and steady as the trusty warthog that is his namesake.
Once a little orange school bus, Pumbaa’s beautiful interior was originally fabricated and installed by a yachtmaker. Though we had to stoop once inside, the yachtmaker - who had designed it for his own comfort and was reported to be a particularly short man - had no such issues. He had sold Pumbaa to a young woman, whose own ambitious travel plans were thwarted by the advent of COVID-19. It had then come to Dan and Julie, who refurbished him and drove from coast to coast, up rocky outback paths and across flooded crossings. Pumbaa was to be sold with all the extras and accessories that the couple had outfitted him with over the past few years, and he was a perfect blend of hardy functionality and elegant comfort. Though we took a day to think it over, both Alessandra’s heart and my own were set.
Our sense of the Dan and Julie was borne out, as they generously offered to drive Pumbaa to our home - a good deal out of their way - upon confirmation of our decision to buy him. Alessandra was staring out the window of our balcony, and exclaimed delightedly when she saw our new bus turn onto the street. They parked up across the road next to the park overlooked by our house, and we celebrated the signing with the crisp apple cider they’d brought for the occasion. We exchanged details of our plans, and will each be following the other’s story in the years to come.
Since then, Alessandra and I have been busy preparing for the journey ahead. We’ve been packing boxes, rearranging Pumbaa, and setting up our instagram and blog spaces. On the 13th of January - our three year anniversary - I proposed to Alessandra, and was overjoyed to hear her say “yes!” I have finished with my work as a school psychologist, and am busily completing several mural commissions around Perth before we leave. Alessandra, as an early childhood educator, is working hard with her classroom, to ensure that her kids are well supported once we’re gone. In so many ways, January of 2023 has felt like the ending of a chapter of our lives, and the beginning of something new and exciting.
So, what now? We are expecting to leave our home in Perth, Western Australia by the end of April, and are looking to head south. We have no specific plans as of yet, and it feels right to make it up as we go. This adventure, after all, is all about growing as people through the remarkable transformative process that is travel. As a muralist, I hope to find work along the way, leaving art in our wake, and Alessandra’s natural talent for photography will have plenty of opportunity to shine. After Australia, we will be looking to Europe. After that, who knows?
