Articles

A real daily amp-hour budget for family vans: fridge, kids' tablets, lights and the dog's fan, worked out from our own numbers on the road.

After two years and two kids living out of a camp kitchen box, here's what stayed, what got binned at a dump point in Emerald, and what I wish I'd packed from day one.

Some routes fill your battery on the drive alone. Others quietly flatten it. Here's how driving hours, stop patterns and climate shape your DC-DC charging.

Safety chains and the breakaway cable are the last line of defence if your hitch fails. Here's how to rig them right, and why so many rigs get it wrong.

Half the recovery gear in most tourers' tubs is either the wrong tool or past its use-by. Here's what Denise and I actually check before every lap.

Twenty years of fixing rigs taught me most breakdowns interstate come down to picking the wrong workshop. Here's how I vet one in an hour.

Vans, hybrids and camper trailers all tow well and camp well. The real question is which one matches your setup-and-pack-down habits and power needs.

Some caravan parks and campgrounds book out 12 months out. I map the ones that catch first-time lappers and when to actually hit "confirm".

What an actual annual caravan service should cover beyond a quick tyre kick, and why families touring school holidays get caught out most.

Independent trailing arm or a good leaf spring set? I've pulled enough busted vans off tracks to have a firm view on which axle setup actually survives.

Not every empty patch of dirt is free to camp on. Here's how I actually work out who owns the ground and how to ask properly before I pull in.

Most tourers guess their water needs and run short. Here's the litres-per-person, per-day maths I use for camp kitchen and drinking water on remote trips.

Long daylight and clear skies on the Eyre Highway sound perfect for solar, but dust, heat and short stops mean your panels earn less than you'd think.

A voltmeter tells you almost nothing about how much charge is left. Here's why a shunt-based battery monitor earns its spot on every off-road van.

Real fuel figures for towing a van around Australia, state by state, and why your consumption changes more than you'd think once you leave the coast.

Crossing three time zones with no daylight saving in some and half-hour offsets in others causes more missed calls and confused kids than any tech problem on the road.

Weight distribution hitches fix a real problem for some rigs and do nothing for others. Here's how to work out which camp you're in before you spend the money.

Finding a free camp is easy. Finding one that works with two kids, a dog and one adult on toilet duty is a different job entirely.

Twenty years of fixing rigs taught me routines fail the same way engines do — under load, not on paper. Here's what actually keeps road-schooling running.

Corrugations don't just rattle your fillings. They crack chassis rails, snap welds and kill fridges. Here's the physics and the driving technique that actually works.

Two kids charging tablets, a Switch and a Kindle every night draws more than people think. Here's the real amp-hour cost and when it tips you to a powered site.

Electric brake linings wear quietly and fail loudly. Here's the ten-minute hub check I do every 10,000km, and what worn shoes actually feel like on the road.

Not all regions treat your solar setup the same. Here's where panels genuinely pull their weight on a lap, and where you're better off planning around mains power.

Bathroom scales under the jockey wheel give you a number, but not the right one. Here's how to measure tow-ball weight properly, and why it matters.

Solar panels cost nothing to run but everything upfront. I've broken down the real annual cost of powering a Big Lap rig across solar, genset and fuel.

Linking the Oodnadatta and Birdsville Tracks through the Flinders Ranges works as one lap, if you get the fuel, water and timing right.

A reversing camera helps, but it can lie to you when it fogs, glares or drops out. Here's the mirror-based method I trust when the screen goes blank.

Most rest area rules are pinned to a board most tourers walk straight past. Here's how to actually read one before you set up.

Solo touring with a dog changes your camp choices, your water sums and your risk tolerance. Here's what actually keeps you both safe out bush.

Most winch installs run undersized cable and no fuse at all. Here's how to size the cable, choose the fuse and ground it so the winch works when you actually need it.

Before you buy a bigger fridge or a bigger battery, do the maths. Here's how I actually size a 12V fridge to a battery bank for family touring.

Which UHF channel to run, what to actually say, and why half the convoys on the Gibb are stepping on truckies. A straight guide from someone who's fixed the radios too.

Water crossings with a caravan on the back are a different game to a solo 4WD. Here's how Trev reads a crossing before committing the rig.

How to size and run a caravan generator sensibly for two fridges, a CPAP and the telly, and why most grey nomads carry a bigger genset than they need.

Real numbers from a family of four on the road: fuel, park fees, school stuff and the costs nobody mentions before you set the budget for a year-long lap.

Most rigs blow through the Mid North of SA on the way to the Flinders or Oodnadatta. Here's why Denise and I keep pulling over instead.

Independent, coil or leaf-spring upgrade? I've run all three configurations over corrugated tracks. Here's what the numbers and the failures actually taught me.

A ranger's torch at 6am is how most people learn their free camp had a 24-hour limit. Here's how to actually check before you set up.

Laptop, video calls, two monitors on a bad day — here's the real power and signal budget for working from a caravan, not the brochure version.

A tyre pressure guide for towing on sand and corrugations, with the actual PSI numbers I run on the van and tow vehicle, and why "just let some air out" isn't good enough.

Modern alternators and lithium batteries don't play nice without a DC-DC charger. Here's what one actually does, how to size it, and where it goes wrong.

How often to repack caravan wheel bearings, what a proper repack actually involves, and why the servicing sticker interval isn't the whole story off-road.

The Sapphire Coast between Merimbula and Eden is an easy tow with real payoffs for kids: clean beaches, oyster farms and short walks. Here's how we lap it.

Most vans are near their ATM within eighteen months of full-time touring. Here's how payload creep happens and the weighbridge habit that stops it biting you.

Clockwise or anticlockwise around Australia? For families the direction you choose decides your seasons, your school terms and your fuel bill.

A remote Gulf of Carpentaria loop from Karumba to Borroloola, with real numbers on fuel, water and where the phone signal actually stops.

Fixed bed or cafe annexe? The real trade-off is space at night versus how much daily faffing you're willing to do at every camp.

Not every dump point is built the same. Here's how Trev Sanders reads one before he commits his cassette, and the mistakes that get free camps closed.

Most caravans tow around Australia with the factory brake controller gain setting still sitting where the dealer left it. Here's how to actually tune it.

Fixed tanks feel like the obvious answer for water, but jerry cans and bladders often win on remote trips. Here's the real trade-off, with numbers.

A 200Ah AGM and a 100Ah lithium can run the same fridge. Here's the maths on usable capacity, cycle life and real cost per amp-hour over time.

Nine years towing a 21ft off-road van has taught me which recovery gear gets used and which sits in the tunnel boot as dead weight.

Not every High Country road is caravan country. Dusty breaks down which Victorian high-country routes suit a van, which need a camper, and which need a tow truck.

A step-by-step hitch-up routine that catches the mistakes that actually cause caravans to come unstuck on the road, in the order that matters.

After two years and hundreds of camp dinners with two kids underfoot, here's what stays in our camp kitchen tub and what got left at a dump point.

Denise and I have been away from the grandkids for years at a stretch. Here's what actually works for staying part of their lives from the road.

Off-road van, hybrid or camper trailer? Marto breaks down real weights, setup times and trade-offs to help you match the rig to how you actually travel.

Free camp or powered site tonight? A practical decision method for families, built around water, dogs, dark arrivals and what your kids actually need to sleep.

A quick, honest walk-through of the tyre check I do before every trip — pressures, tread, age and the spot most parents skip.

Corrugated roads don't just rattle your fridge, they fatigue the compressor mounts and wiring. Here's what actually fails and how to stop it.