'We spent years climbing up the corporate ladder. In 2022, we quit to live in a van.'

One of the first dates Wade and Dani ever went on was a camping trip for the weekend, with Wade's friends. 

It was Dani's first time sleeping in a tent – the intrepid lifestyle was one she wasn't so sure she enjoyed. For Wade, it wasn't the type of travel he wasn't used to either.

But now eight years later, the pair live in a van with their two cats. Except, this lifestyle didn't just happen for either of them. They planned their journey. And now they're travelling around Australia to soak up as much of the country as they can.

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Living, travelling and working out of a van wasn't a decision Wade and Dani came to quickly. It only started as a possibility in Wade's mind when the COVID pandemic came in 2020. The health regulations at the time forced a majority of those across the country to stay inside their homes. 

After 15 years of working in security, he'd been able to develop a nice nest egg for himself. But the idea of staying any longer in a traditional career weighed on him. 

"I was getting super tired," he tells Mamamia. "I wasn't enjoying it at all... and we kind of were just wanting to enjoy life more than working a nine to five, being stuck in an office [or our home]."

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"He called me crying and I had never seen him cry life that before," she explained. "He was so depressed. He needed a change and I remember telling him, 'Just quit. We'll figure it out'."

It wasn't long after that he decided it was time but even then, the jump from traditional living to a life that was on their terms, was slow. 

Because while Wade was ready for something more, Dani was a finance manager and loving it. 

"There was so much opportunity and when I started, it was a startup with just 26 employees," she shares. 

Read more: 'Van Life' has been glamourised on social media. This is the reality.

The opportunity for growth and new goals were constant and it was where she thrived. When the pair began talking about buying a van and travelling, Dani wasn't entirely convinced, either.

"I was like, 'Well, yeah, we can do that. But I don't want to quit my job,'" she recalls. "I wanted to still work even remotely because I really loved it."

But things started to change. In her words, "the company started growing too much and too fast".

"I enjoyed the challenges and what my career progression was looking like, but management changed," she says. 

Eventually, Dani looked around and everyone she had enjoyed working with, had left. The thought that it may be time for her to move on too crept in.

But the decision was made for them when Dani's father died in 2021. Upon returning to her home country of Brazil for three months, she realised that she could work from anywhere. 

When they returned to Australia, she went down to part-time work and the pair started travelling in their spare time. Wade started taking an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) course so they could polish up their blog. 

Now, they're 275 days into their non-stop travel journey. Whilst it's undoubtedly been a dream, Wade and Dani are realistic. 

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They work with a budget and have no plans to use any of their savings. 

"We don't want to touch [our savings]," Wade explains. "But we make a little bit of money through our blog, which is through affiliate links and ad revenue."

The couple has also cracked into a niche market – one where they are getting paid to travel for other brands. Except they're not just utilising their own platform but the companies they work with.

"We get a bit of money through Instagram and social media, but more through creating content for other brands to post on their social media," he said. "Because we go to these amazing places and they want to see their product in front of somewhere special. It's kind of difficult [and expensive] to send someone to do it. And we're already there."

"It's what we prefer as well because we don't have to sell anything to our audience... We only go down the route of sponsored content from time to time," he says, adding they promote the brands and products they personally love.

Van life isn't a perfect lifestyle, but getting the opportunity to travel full time and on their own terms outweighs any negative.

Luckily for them, they're not alone and are accompanied by their two cats, Jon Snow and Gatinha. It wasn't easy incorporating them into the fold – but it's a decision they know now is good. 

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"Yeah... I didn't know how they were going to react," Wade explains. "And the first few months I was like, 'I don't know if this is actually going to work'."

Dani adds: "For me, leaving the kids behind wasn't an option nor was giving them away. I would never do that. And now, it's the best thing. They go outside. They don't run away from us. They'll just go do and do their business, smell, do whatever and then come back.

"We're kind of lucky, I guess."

The pair have about 10 months left of their travels before they make their way to Brazil for a family wedding where Dani will be a bridesmaid. 

But in the meantime? They're not taking any moment for granted. 

"We've started up a YouTube channel, and that's just a whole new challenge," Wade says. "But it's been great."

Wade and Dani are full-time travellers who run their own blog and share updates about their life on Instagram. You can follow them and keep up with their journey here.

Feature Image: Instagram @wadeanddani

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