Amazing adventure in prospect - but need advice

[ClaudiaSchiffer]

Hi there, DH and I are thinking about spending 6 months driving around Australia in a 4wd with a camper trailer. We'd take our 2 kids with us, and think it would be a great adventure. DH is Australian and we live here so nothing much to organise in terms of getting there. BUT I am not one of the worlds natural campers (went once in France aged 15 - was ok, then again in Scotland and HATED it). Our children are 4 and nearly 2.

Has anyone every done anything similar? Are we insane? Got any tips?

Bump . . . anyone?

Book hotels instead? You could ditch the cumbersome truck and be properly free. And why stay in Oz alone for six months, you could visit several continents in that space of time.

It's probably bloody hot over there anyway, you'll want air con and a swimming pool, not a tent in the desert somewhere.

2 is a good starting age for travel, we took our 2-year-old to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore.

They are on the way to Oz, and you could potentially get a stopopover ticket for the same price as a continuous one (Australia which is too far to go without a break with two young children). RTW is another option, £1000 tax-inclusive RTW fares are achievable (example: London - Los Angeles - Auckland - Christchurch - Sydney - Hong Kong - London), you can get business class RTW for as little as £2000 sometimes).

Hi, thanks mamamea, apols but i didn't make myself very clear in my first post. When I said we live here I meant in Australia. So traveling through S.E Asia isn't really an option.

Also it's coming up for winter here so perfect for doing some desert camping (apparently - although as far as i'm concerned the words Camping and Perfect shouldn't really be in the same sentence ).

Anyone else camped/traveled with young children?

Go for it, the dc are still young enough for them to be very portable. We have just been camping for 5 days in the Masai Mara and the dc had a ball. We went with friends who have been travelling for 6 months from Zim to Cairo to Cape Town and back up to Zim, two families with 5 children. They were having a ball and have been camping in desert, in the harsh terrain of northern Kenya, Sudan and the like so yours may similar.

Every week or so they book into a cheap guest house for a good freshen up which is what you could do.