An Australian family who quit the rat race to live out their dream caravanning around our vast country found a clever way to extend their trip by two years.
Courtney and James Inskip were unexpectedly inundated with offers of work during their travels, thanks to James’s in-demand skills as an electrician.
The couple were astounded “just how many opportunities” opened up by working and travelling at the same time, Courtney told Yahoo News. It meant they could extend their two-year trip to four.
Together, the family have explored every corner of the country, and lived in remote communities, with their children entering different school environments and even getting a helicopter to work sites.
“None of it was planned — it all came from being flexible, open and on the road,” she said.
What struck them was the glaring tradie shortage sweeping the nation, prompting them to create a job platform called Tradies on Tour, which was a huge success.
They quickly realised that it wasn’t just tradies that were in high demand, and now, they’ve expanded their mission in a new platform called Travel Work Stay (TWS).
The website connects travellers with work opportunities and affordable stays while helping hosts and regional businesses find reliable workers quickly.
Jobs listed on the site include handyman, carpenter, boiler maker, farm relief manager, diesel mechanic, and caretaker opportunities.
“It opens it up to everyone,” Courtney told Yahoo News Australia. “Travelling doesn’t have to mean burning through savings or putting life on hold.
“We hope that this platform helps make travelling Australia more affordable, more sustainable, and opens the door for others to say yes to opportunities when they come up.”
It could mean more Aussie familes can stay out on the road for longer.
As the Inskip family started caravanning around Australia, the tradie shortage became quickly apparent. Source: Supplied/Instagram
Skills shortage in rural Australia
It’s not just tradies that are in high demand in remote pockets of Australia, Courtney said.
“We soon realised that there were a lot of communities that couldn’t get a tradesman, but it went beyond that,” she said.
“You’d walk down the street of a rural town, and then you’d see adverts all the time for all sorts of jobs.”
While job boards exist for travellers via Facebook groups, Courtney argues they can be hard to navigate.
“We wanted to make one platform, not multiple Facebook groups to scroll through to find work. Whether it would be a week or a day offering a hand, house sitting,” she said.
She believes Travel Work Stay is more than just a listings page, and says it creates a sense of community by offering advice and discounts to travel brands.
As a traveller, it costs $39 to sign up to the platform. For employers and hosts to advertise jobs, it costs $79.
Courtney said feedback so far has been “really positive” and despite only launching in November, the platform is “taking off”.
“We want it to be the mother of all sites, for everyone and everything in the travel industry,” she said.
Courtney and James were able to stretch out their travels for as long as possible, but now that their daughter is entering high school, they are finally saying goodbye to their nomadic lifestyle.
But it won’t be their hometown of Inverell, NSW, that they return to.
“We had a family vote,” she explained. And the family mutually agreed they’d like to settle down in Cairns.
For anyone hoping to explore the country, Courtney says, “just do it”
“And hopefully Travel Work Stay helps make that leap a little easier,” she said.
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