The grey nomad chapter

Time. Most holidays compress into a week or two and you're back to the calendar. A grey nomad trip stretches for weeks or months - long enough that the pace stops feeling like a holiday and starts feeling like a different way of being. Plenty of people describe it as the first time since they were kids that a day didn't come with an agenda. The unhurried days are the part most people are really after.

A grey nomad is the Australian term for a retired or semi-retired traveller spending weeks or months on the road in a caravan or motorhome. The term covers everyone from a couple doing a fortnight at a coastal park each winter, to long-term travellers doing a six-month lap of the country. There are around 800,000 registered caravans in Australia and grey nomads are the biggest segment of that audience.

For most first trips, yes. A new caravan is eighty to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars and you won't know what suits you until you've slept in a few. Hiring two or three different rigs over a year is the cheapest way to find out what kind of van fits the trips you actually want to take. After that you can buy with confidence - or keep hiring if buying never makes sense.

Yes. The owner walks you through the hitch, the brake controller, the mirrors, and the reversing basics at handover - typically 30 to 45 minutes, longer if you ask. Plenty of grey nomads haven't towed since the kids were small. If towing still feels like too much, book a van with delivery, or hire a motorhome and skip towing entirely.

Plenty of grey nomad couples have one driver. A motorhome is usually the easier option in that case - no hitching, no reversing a trailer, simpler to drive on long days. Plan for shorter driving days (four hours rather than eight) and base yourselves at one place for a week or more between moves so the driver isn't carrying the trip alone.

Anything from a long weekend to six months. Camplify owners routinely take long-term bookings, with weekly and monthly discounts that apply automatically when you select longer dates. Many couples start with a fortnight at a beach to test the rig, then come back the following year for a longer trip.

All of them, in roughly that order. Caravan parks for the powered sites, the amenities, and the people - happy hours at five, the same group of grey nomads at half a dozen parks across the year. Free camps for variety and budget - apps like WikiCamps and CamperMate are how most grey nomads find them. Station stays for the experience of camping on a working farm, often for a small fee per night.

Many Camplify listings are pet-friendly - filter for it. Most caravan parks accept dogs, but national park sites generally do not. Plan the route accordingly. Owners who travel with their own dog have usually set the van up for travel with one - water bowl mounting, easy-clean flooring, the practical bits a fleet rental wouldn't have.

Not for most of it. Highway 1 is sealed for all 14,500 kilometres around Australia, and the popular grey-nomad coastal route is bitumen the whole way. You'd want a 4WD and an off-road caravan if you plan to drive the Gibb River Road, Cape York beyond Cooktown, or the Oodnadatta Track. Most first long trips stick to the sealed loop.

Yes. Plenty of grey nomads start with shorter hires and build to a full lap of Australia (around 14,500 km, three to twelve months, depending on pace) once they know the rig that suits them. The sealed Highway 1 route runs all the way around. Long-term hire on Camplify with monthly rates makes the maths work without buying a van first.

Every Camplify booking includes comprehensive protection for the full length of the trip, plus 24/7 roadside assistance. Excess amounts and specific inclusions vary by vehicle and are shown on the listing before you book. Off-road and unsealed road coverage depends on the specific listing - confirm with the owner before booking if your route includes dirt roads.