Have you ever thought about making every corner of Australia your home?
The hashtag #vanlife has more than 10 million followers on Instagram and it's no wonder that it's one of the most popular lifestyles in Australia and around the world.
Brazilian Amanda Sanches, 33, from São Paulo, has been in Australia for 6 years. Together with her Australian wife, the two made their dream a reality two years ago, when they left Sydney and literally made Australia their home.
"Actually, it's always been a dream. When you live here in Australia your mind opens up so much, you see so many new things, and then when I met my girlfriend she already had a small van and I always said we had to buy a bus, a bigger thing. Then there was one day, when we were travelling in the van and we passed by a bus, which is the bus we have today, and we saw that there was a guy living on that bus. We looked at each other and said, 'Let's buy a bus? Let's go'. Just like that."
They are currently on the Gold Coast, Queensland, where they are taking a break before getting back on the road. Their next destination is Western Australia.
"We're going to cross the desert. We've actually done the desert, but we'll do it again. Our goal is to go all the way around Australia. We've already done half, now the other half. We went up from Sydney to Queensland along the coast and inland. We did it in 1 year. We stopped in many places. People ask me, 'Amanda, what's the most beautiful place? How many places have you been to?'. It's impossible to know, because there are so many places."
The bus has everything a normal house can offer: Bathroom, electricity, bed and kitchen.
"Living on buses is actually living outside more than inside. You stay much more on beaches, parks than inside the house. We only use the house to eat, bathe and sleep. To sleep, normally we stay in a Caravan Park. We pay for a place or we sleep parked in a small street and that's it. Water, we have a hose to fill a tank. So, wherever we see, we stop to fill a water tank, it's 200 litres of water, which lasts about 3 days. And electricity, we have a sunroof. The sunroof takes care of everything. We even have a big fridge the same size we had in our previous house and I work all the time.
Source: Natalia D’Angelo
The pandemic has caused more people to follow in the footsteps of Amanda and her wife.
"Many people are seeing that it's a simpler life, where you spend a lot more time in nature, enjoying different things. So, for example, I bought my own house for 30,000 dollars, which is my bus, with everything, and I can live wherever I want. When you understand that this freedom is possible, of having your own home and not paying rent, your world opens up. Due to the pandemic, in the last year, there are many more people buying vans in Australia. Even today, if you come to #vanlife, if you want to buy a van, you'll have a hard time finding it, because there aren't many available."
Source: Supplied/Natalia D’Angelo
Nowadays, with the internet, you can work from anywhere. So why not buy a bus instead of sitting in a house?
And for those who have doubts about living on the road, Amanda offers some advice.
"My advice is that you only live once. So enjoy it. It's a life that brings a lot of simplicity, minimalism. You see life with other values.
Before, I thought I needed a lot, a big house, lots of clothes. Nowadays, I'm much happier living with little and meeting wonderful people along the way and being in nature. If you only live once, do it now.
Amanda Sanches, 33 anos, mais conhecida como a "doida do busão". Source: Supplied/Natalia D’Angelo
