Australia isn’t just a pin on a map for us. It’s home. It’s where life happened long before this trip ever began.

Before we packed up and took the kids around the world, we were already moving. Not internationally, not chasing destinations, just following work, opportunities, and a bit of curiosity about what was out there.

We’ve lived in a few very different corners of Australia. Up in Darwin in the Northern Territory for two and a half years, where life feels slower, hotter, and more spread out. Then across to Mackay in Queensland for a year, where the coastline becomes part of your everyday rhythm. Brisbane has always been our base, the place we kept coming back to, and where we were living before we finally decided to leave.

Kia grew up on a sugarcane farm in Cairns, surrounded by rainforest and reef. I grew up in the suburbs of Ipswich, Brisbane’s neighbouring city. But between us, we’ve seen a lot of the country in different ways, not just as travellers, but as locals trying to build a life.

But the biggest shift came when we stopped staying still.

We packed up and did a caravan trip from Darwin, right around the coastline, all the way to Mackay. No rush, no strict plan, just moving, exploring, figuring it out as we went. That trip changed something. It showed us what life could look like if we didn’t stay in one place.

Looking back now, that was probably the beginning of all of this.