Kristy Bowman and Kevin Humphrey have had enough of paying rent — so they’ve decided to stop.
For them this is not a #vanlife adventure, it’s a heartbreaking decision to move into a home on wheels.
“The majority of our wage was going to pay rent on this bricks-and-mortar house and we couldn’t get ahead,” Ms Bowman said.
“So we thought, let’s push it all down and live in a van, go to van life.
“We’ll need less. We’ll need to make less money, but any money that we do make, we’re going to be able to keep more of.”
The Gold Coast couple got rid of almost all material possessions in the weeks before their lease ended — what couldn’t fit in the van or be sold or given away had to go in a skip.
“I’ve gotten rid of nearly a whole household full of stuff,” Ms Bowman said.
“What’s heartbreaking is that the stuff you’ve worked really hard to accumulate and buy over the years is worth nothing to anyone else.
“You carry all this stuff moving from house to house and it’s just not worth it in the end.”
Homeless in a bus
The cost of renting has increased dramatically across Australia in the past three years, rising from a median weekly value of about $460 in September 2020 to $595 in July 2023, according to CoreLogic data.
As of September 30, CoreLogic data shows the Gold Coast local government area had the highest median weekly rental value in Queensland at $776.
Homelessness is increasing across the Sunshine State — a Queensland Council of Social Services report released in March found the state’s rate of increase was nearly triple the national rate.
Mr Humphrey, a mechanic, and Ms Bowman, a hospitality manager, plan to continue working on the road, but admit becoming effectively homeless is unlikely to be easy.
“It’ll be fun at times but there’ll be ups and downs and there’ll be times where we will just want to cry,” Mr Humphrey said.
“The reality is we could be under the same sort of pressure living in a place struggling to pay the rent and getting asked to move out anyway, so to us this is a better option.”
Ms Bowman said navigating life with no fixed address would be one of the most difficult aspects of the couple’s decision.
“A few people have called us mad and said: ‘Are you going to go and be homeless?’ And I’ve said: ‘Well, my home is on wheels now.’
“So yes, I am going to be homeless for a little while, except in a bus.
“I’m in a position where I can do this. I’m turning 50 next year so it’s sort of like, why not?”
From rust bucket to rolling retreat
Customising the vehicle the couple bought earlier this year into a liveable rolling home has been a journey in itself.
“It’s taken me five months to take it from rusty and unroadworthy to our little creation on wheels,” Mr Humphrey said.
Working four to five hours each day during that time, Mr Humphrey cut out the rust, welded in new panels, installed solar power, water tanks and air conditioning, and reconfigured the interior layout.
“We’re pretty much self-sufficient right down to the compost toilet and a recirculating shower,” he said.
“It’s planned with fundamentals behind it and backups so that if one solar system claps out, there’s a secondary … and then there’s a DC controller off the engine if we need it on dark days.”
Mr Humphrey and Ms Bowman have parked up at a friend’s property on the southern Gold Coast while they make some final modifications to their rolling home.
After that, they’re unsure where they will end up.
“I don’t know what the future holds for us,” Ms Bowman said.
“I like to think that we could make enough money and save enough to buy a property somewhere that we could put a little tiny house or shipping container and build on that.
“Because I’ve got a very clever builder on my hands.”