Lockdown life on the road: How a family of six swapped their house for a caravan

Four months ago, the Coulter family left their little town of Hadspen, in the north of Tasmania, and started their journey as 'green nomads' with no return date in sight.

For parents, Billy and Hayley, selling their six-bedroom house and purchasing a caravan was an attempt to buy back time with their four kids — Rocky (one), Dusty (six), Ruby (14) and Lily (16).

"You put your children into daycare so you can go and work," Hayley says.

"And before you know it, your kids are in primary school, and you've missed out on them being babies because you've worked your butt off."

The freedom of their new lifestyle means they get to "reverse-retire".

"We’re physically and mentally in the best condition we’ve ever been in.  [We thought] 'lets do this now'," Billy says.

"Let’s give our working years to an employer later on, and our best years to our family now."

Escaping COVID hotspots

While the pandemic and the numerous lockdowns has meant little to no travel for many Australians, the Coulters have been to over 20 locations in the past four months.

The very sudden border-closures have kept the family on their toes, looking for spots that are relatively safe to drive across to.

"We missed so much of Victoria and New South Wales simply because it felt like we were constantly being chased by COVID," Billy says

"Every time we would get somewhere we'd soon hear on the news that it was getting closer, so we would pack up and move onto the next spot to avoid it as best as we could."

Despite that, they couldn't always escape the COVID restrictions as they travelled through different states.

They are currently stationed in the regional Queensland town of Mount Isa, waiting for the OK to continue on to Darwin.

But that hasn't stop them enjoying their new lifestyle.

"We just have a pretty carefree attitude," Hayley says.

"And when we're ready, we'll move on."

And even when hurdles pop up like this, Billy says being on the road helps put things into perspective.

"The good thing is we've got time to deal with the hurdles. We've got each other so you're not doing it by yourself.

"You've got your teammates in the car."

Changing mask rules difficult for kids

Government regulations means mask-wearing has become a norm for most of Australia's east coast.

Billy says this has been a hurdle for their younger kids when it comes to communication.

"They couldn't see our facial expressions and reactions to things. They couldn't see our smile or frown but we can see their confusion," he says.

For Dusty who is three and Rocky who just turned one, Billy says most of their communication relies on reading facial expressions, yet everywhere they looked was a sea of masks.

"They couldn't visually identify moods or emotions which we saw was really hard on them," Billy says.

Hayley says the need to cover their faces has impacted Dusty's behaviour.

Now that the rules for masks outdoors has eased in Queensland, Hayley says she can now see Dusty coming out of his shell more.

"We've noticed, he's opening up more and he's happier because he's more reassured by people's facial expressions."

Fitting school around travels

Billy says managing the kids' transition from years in a classroom, to learning remotely while on the road was one of their major concerns.

Originally, they had planned to model their school days on traditional school hours, from 9am–3pm, but Hayley says that became an issue for daughters Lily and Ruby, who are in high school.

Instead, the family set up a system of their own called "Catchup", where the girls wind down after tea to watch their online lessons at night.

"There are days when we don't do anything and we're just sitting around the van, so they can log on and go to school then," Hayley says.

"But other days, they'll just sit on their iPads and watch their lessons in the night time after tea."