Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Sam and Sophie quit their jobs, sold their house and chose freedom. The couple wasn’t happy living in a house, working unfulfilling jobs and conforming to the norm. They’d fallen in love with the idea of living life on the road and now they don’t ever see themselves going back to their old life. Together with their Troopy and Hercules Roof Conversion the couple is known as Travelling Sands. They feel more at home than ever since deciding to go All In!
What message do you want people to take away from your story?
The inspiration to live a life less ordinary. There’s more to life than paying bills and being trapped in a life that you don’t enjoy. We wish to try and inspire others to follow their dreams and seek freedom, whatever that may look like for them.
How do you balance sharing hidden gems with preserving their secrecy?
We’re not special, we don’t believe that we deserve the right to hide special places. While we don’t use our platform to broadcast hidden gems, if somebody asks we’re not afraid to tell them.
What’s your favourite moment from the road?
When we meet people spontaneously in random locations and create instant connections, which shapes where and how we travel. It happens more often than not, and we absolutely love connecting with like minded people. And knowing there’s so many people out there that you can build amazing friendships with. If you’re in the right place. (Like a random car park down a dirt road on a Wednesday morning).
How do you decide what’s worth sharing vs. keeping private?
We share what we believe will help inspire others to live a life less ordinary. That includes all the highs and (most of) the lows and keeping it real.
What’s the most surprising way this journey has changed you?
Realising that we need less. Less is more. After living such a simple life, we have realised that you don’t actually need much to be happy. No bells and whistles on the car, no fancy dinners or materialistic items. Just getting out there and living and experiencing what this beautiful world has to offer, is more than enough.
Best piece of advice for someone who wants to start their own adventure?
You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t need all the money in the world. You don’t need a fancy setup. You just need to get out there. And start today. The rest will work itself out.
How do you hope your content shapes how people see Australia?
Australia has so much to offer, more than one can truly understand. We think it’s near impossible to travel Australia in its entirety in one lifetime. So enjoy what you see, don’t worry about what you miss, take it all in and really appreciate the diversity of the country that we have. And it doesn’t have to be expensive.
What’s one travel hack you’ve discovered that’s been a game-changer?
No plans are the best plans. We know it’s not much of a hack, but travelling with nowhere to be really allows you to take in where you are without being in a rush.
If you could only share one place in Australia with the world, what would it be?
That’s a hard one, but we think the Great Barrier Reef is pretty spectacular. Island hopping in our boat, camping on islands, catching fresh fish and snorkelling over the coral reef. There really is nothing like it.
What’s next for you?
We actually plan on building another Troopy… (we might need another roof conversion, we love our Alu-Cab!) And we plan on turning our dream of inspiring others into a reality, focusing our time on starting a business that will make impactful change to other people. Travelling Australia has changed our life completely in so many ways, we just want everyone to wake up and realise that life is short and made for living!