The Vagabond Years

When I moved to Australia after my divorce, I had limited funds & a mortgage to pay on my flat in London. I created the #NoRent rule with the idea of not paying rent unless I had a job.

I first stayed with Troy in Boronia a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. I stayed there for 11 days before being offered a job on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. I ended up staying in the company apartment for free for 6 months. When things didn’t work out at Smart City, I hung around Maroochydore for a week until I got paid. I ended up staying in a couples house for free in return for creating a basic website for them.

Adamski picked me up & took me to Brisbane. I stayed at the LDS bachelor house on Fairy St, Marooka for the first weekend in June 2015 but had no idea where I could live. I went to see Marg my old neighbour in Woolloongabba & arranged to stay with her for a few weeks in exchange for helping with household chores & driving her around. I should mention here that Adamski let me borrow his car in exchange for me buying him a new car battery.

Once the Gabba house was no longer available, I decided to sleep on the back seats of the car. After a few weeks, I decided I would live in a car for the forseeable future to fit in with my #NoRent motto & also have the flexibility to move where ever I could find work.

I bought a Hundia I40 ex demo model which was the real start of my Car More Home Less abode of choice. After 6 weeks living in Brisbane with no job prospects in site, I decided to drive to Sydney to look for work opportunities.

Knowing no one in Sydney, I drove the 1000 km to an LDS church in Greenwich & parked outside the chapel. After a few weeks, I asked the EQP if he knew anyone who would allow me to use their shower on infrequent basis. He put me in touch with eccentric member Geoff who said I could actually sleep on the floor in his study room in exchange for helping him in various projects. My shower arrangements up until that time was to go to a gym & pretend I wanted to join & ask for a week trial & then use their facilities to shower & charge up my phone & laptop.

By January 2016, my funds we very low & had the prospect of not being able to pay my mortgage so when offered a job in Perth, I decided to send all my earning back to the UK & live off $100 a week. By October of the same year, I made my last payment & the Title Deed was transferred into my name from Halifax.

My ex wife & 3 children were living in the flat in London so now I wasn’t under presssure if I found no work as it could no longer be repossessed. As I was single, I decided to continue to live in the car until my circumstances changed. I lived frugally, saving money when I had work & living off my savings when no work available.

This continued during my time in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane & finally ended in April 2019 when I moved in with Francis Claven at his Kangaroo Point apartment (still abiding by the #NoRent principle of giving help to the householder in exchange for place to sleep).

I survived during this time by joing AnyTime Fitness that is open 24/7. I used it as my office, Gym, Shower & even place to cook on occasion. I made no secret of my arrangement apart from people I worked with.

I was seen by some as a loser for choosing this lifestyle but I wasn’t particularly bothered as I was mortgage free, secured a place to live for my children, I had savings to draw upon when required & was able to travel when ever & where ever I wanted.