It’s just past 8pm and we’re in our campervan. Steph is on a work trip back to Hobart so it’s just me and Willow, enjoying a week or so down South from our home in Perth. I think we’ve remembered everything; it’s been a while since we’ve gone away.

We’ve had some dinner and it’s getting pretty cold outside- I’ve even put the diesel heater on which Willow appreciates. It only took 15 minutes to heat the place up.

You don’t have to drive far to leave the hum of the city behind, about an hour or so, really. We’ve found a nice little spot in the forest, nothing special, but special enough for us. I guess what makes it special is that Willow is here with me.

Though, we had a small disagreement. Willow was adamant, as always, that the laptop is for sitting. If I placed her back on the seat, she would jump straight back up again. Repeat.

I tell her that she’s got it all wrong, that the laptop is, in fact, for typing, but she is stubborn. I wish she’d understand that me removing her from the keyboard isn’t the human rights violation that she thinks it is!

Anyhow, she’s settled on my lap now and I can hear her contented purrs. Before it got dark we spent some time outside where I got some shots of her as we listened to the evening bird song. There was a group of cockatoos in the eucalypts that mostly dominated the chorus.

But it’s still now. It’s peaceful. The air is crisp like it is where I am from.

That’s what I didn’t understand about travelling when I started all those years ago: that one day we’d stop and it wouldn’t be the landscapes or the landmarks that I’d miss. It would be the quiet and the simplicity.

Living in Perth has been hard but it’s a sacrifice I’m going to have to make to do the work I want to do. 10 years ago I was making plans to leave Hobart for the first time; I can’t seem to reconcile that amount of time passing.

On no! Sounds like the diesel heater tank is about empty. I knew I forgot something!

Looks like we’ll have to do a little trip into town tomorrow.

Where was I. Yes. Travelling. I feel I should have something intelligent to say, but maybe there’s nothing to be said. It’s like when someone in the office announces that there’s biscuits in the tea room. Of course, had I not of known that, the thought of how delicious they might be wouldn’t plague my mind.

I do know, though, what’s out there, and that makes living in the city so much harder.

Would it be best not to know? To never have left my old life behind? No. That’s silly, and ungrateful, really.

I’m going to make a bedtime cup of tea now; Willow’s getting pretty sleepy. It’s going to be a chilly morning without the heater but I can guarantee that Willow will be climbing under the blankets to keep me warm.

We have about 10 days away before Steph returns and I have to be back in Perth to continue sorting my career out. I’m going to do lots of hikes and explore these little towns.

No matter what, we’ll always have our van home. Can you believe it, Willow? We’ve been doing this for nearly ten years.

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