Sharon Farrow doesn’t need much.<\/p>\n
Since she packed up her Hervey Bay home five years ago, it’s just her, her cat Sapphire and her pink-striped van Millie on the open road.<\/p>\n
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Sharon says she knows her husband, Dale, is with her on her travels. (ABC)<\/p>\n
Sharon gave up the comforts of a house with four walls after her husband, Dale, died.<\/p>\n
“He was sick for two years. And after he passed, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t struggle,” she tells Back Roads guest host Myf Warhurst.<\/p>\n
If you or anyone you know needs grief support:Griefline<\/a>:\u00a0Phone support for all Australians Monday to Friday\u00a0and 24\/7 online forums<\/a>. Call 1300 845 745 from\u00a08:00am to 8:00pm AEDTKids Helpline<\/a>: 24\/7 phone support and WebChat <\/a>for young people aged between five and 25. Call\u00a01800 551 800Headspace<\/a>: Centres for young people in each state and territory or check out\u00a0headspace<\/a>\u00a0for online or phone supportLifeline<\/a>: 24-hour support for all Australians on 13 11 14<\/p>\n After his death, grief consumed Sharon near a point of no return, and she realised she couldn’t continue her life as it was.<\/p>\n “You can talk to everyone and anyone, but in the end, it’s something that you have to change yourself,” she says.<\/p>\n “You need to do something.”<\/p>\n For Sharon, travelling the country one campsite at a time has been life-changing, from finding a new community to picking up skills along the way.<\/p>\n “I didn’t realise I was going to go through the personal growth and my personality would change, but it was the beginning of something really special.”<\/p>\n Sharon is one in a growing cohort of women taking up van life, breaking stereotypes by travelling solo.<\/p>\n Sharon has transformed her van into her home. (ABC)<\/p>\n It’s an experience shared by Shelley Robertson, who is part of a 44,000-member-strong Facebook group designed to connect women choosing solo van life, Ladies Camping Australia.<\/p>\n “I’ve always been a nature girl. I’ve always found my happy place in nature. And when my marriage broke down, I thought it didn’t have to stop,” Shelley says.<\/p>\n “And I’ve done some great trips already, and I love it, I love getting out there, meeting people, experiencing this.”<\/p>\n Shelley takes her dog on her travels.\u00a0 (Supplied)<\/p>\n Making solo travel safe<\/p>\n Ladies Camping Australia, facilitated by Kristie Dean, has been designed to create safe spaces for women to travel freely.<\/p>\n Kristie Dean created the group. (Supplied)<\/p>\n “Safety is the number one issue that we’re all finding solutions for, so that [travellers] can have their adventures and not be in fear all the time,” Kristie says.<\/p>\n “We’ve had a lot of accommodation locations, all sorts, reach out … and ask, ‘How can we show support for women? We know they need it.'”<\/p>\n Within the group, women share their first-hand tales from life on the road.<\/p>\n Loading…<\/p>\n Shelley says, for many women, those experiences include handling the stereotypes that come from being a solo female traveller.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It’s sometimes the preconceived ideas of others when you roll up somewhere that you’re a female and you don’t know anything, so they almost force themselves to [help], ‘Out of the way, love, we’ll do that for you,'” Shelley says.<\/p>\n Kristie says, for some women, hitting the road is a means of survival.<\/p>\n Family and domestic violence support services:<\/p>\n If you need help immediately call emergency services on triple-0<\/p>\n “There’s a lot of domestic violence. It makes you choke [up] because they’re very emotional posts when they come through,” she says.<\/p>\n “We might get one come through and they’re like, ‘Ladies, I’m on the road and I’m scared. I’ve got to drive between Melbourne and Sydney or Brisbane and I’ve escaped’.”<\/p>\n “And then we say, ‘Look, if you go through a dark moment, you’re not on your own. Reach out’, and the community pulls together and changes lives.”<\/p>\n Kristie has created a logo for campsites and individuals to display to signify that solo travellers are safe in their company.<\/p>\n Myf Warhurst met the women travelling Australia in their vans. (ABC: Melinda Howells)<\/p>\n Cost-of-living pressures have also forced some to seek alternative living arrangements.<\/p>\n “Rent has pushed them out, and they’re trying to look at, well, how can I have the best quality of life without paying $500 rent? So some are selling or renting their homes, buying a van because it’s cheaper to be on the road,” Kristie says.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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