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Into the Great Unknown with the Mascadri Family
Not too long ago, the Mascadri’s made the decision to sell their house, quit their jobs and hit the road to explore the great unknown.
We catch up with Kellie and Hadley as they talk to us about their new life on the road with little kids and how this journey has transformed their view of living on the road.
Tell us about yourself/your family
Our family of five of includes Mum (Kellie), Dad (Hadley), Lacey (5), Carter (4) and Aaliyah (1) and we have been travelling around Australia in our caravan for the last two years. During this time, we’ve had three different caravans and two different cars. Also, fun fact: we left with two kids and now have three!!
What made you decide to travel full time? And how long have you been on the road now?
We planned this trip around 2017, at this time we were only going to travel for a few months. This trip was plannel to travel with Hadley’s mum, dada and sister. Unfortunately, we lost Hadley’s mum to cancer, and this sparked our decision to travel full time and live our lives to the fullest because we’re not promised anything. So far, it’s been two years and we will be on the road for another five months (if everything goes to plan).
Tell us about your setup
We have a 200 series Landcruiser with a tinnie on the roof and a 21ft Malibu family adventure Wildtracker. Fully equipped with 300ah of lithium batteries, 890watts of solar and three water tanks, we are fully set up for free camping 🤙
What has been your favourite spot so far? Or places you’d happily visit again.
Airlie Beach, QLD and Perlubie Beach, SA were amazing! Free camping on the beach was by far our favourite. As we have endless solar, our only issue would be water so we have a 145L water bladder so we can refill the tanks and stay anywhere as long as we want. We are yet to do the WA coast (this is where we are spending our last 5 months) and we predict that this will be our favourite part!
What has been the most surprising experience?
Saltwater Crocodiles in Kakadu especially Cahill’s crossing was a real eye-opener! 🐊
We were also surprised about how desolate it is outside of the main cities and towns. There’s a very long way (sometimes 4 hours) between towns!
What have you learned about living on the road that you didn’t expect?
Plans should be used as a rough guide only; things change! You might find somewhere that is amazing where you stay for longer and vica versa. The people you meet along the way doing similar things are also a plus to this lifestyle.
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give someone new to life on the road?
Try not to plan too far ahead except for school holidays. We rarely book more than a few days in advance, and we haven’t been caught out too bad yet. Also, groceries can very expensive when you are remote, so prep well.
Any places that were a little bit underwhelming?
We found Cape York a little but less than what we expected, we didn’t do the 4x4ing too much as we have little ones so maybe that was a factor.
What has been the worst experience/event?
We had an ant infestation in one of our old vans that took a while to get rid of ( there were thousands and they had made our walls their home) We also snapped a brake line from a bolt coming loose on a bracket. As we 100kms from our van, we did a bit of bush mechanic work and limped home.
What’s coming up next on the trip?
We are headed to Broome and doing the WA coastline which we are super excited for! 🤩
Get in touch with us to see how we can help power your adventures.
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