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Lots of saving over the past year, and no debt at all :) We own our truck & trailer outright, and don't have a mortgage cos we've always just rented. Also we area planning to stop in Darwin around April and work for about 6 months, we have mates up there whose paddock we can camp in rent-free so that will give us the potential to save a decent amount to continue travelling further.

Thanks everyone We're getting pretty excited now, only 3 days til we leave!

Yep, we know a few people who have travelled Aus extensively with their dogs so we figure we'll be fine. And even though we're young, the type of trip we're doing is actually kind of more grey nomad-style, rather than crazy young backpacker-style :p And my nanna used to have a fox terrier that was pretty naughty and not trained well at all, so I know what you mean about them, haha...

Oh yeah the good old Torana...we used to have a LJ 4 door Torana...oh boy I wish we'd kept it they are now classics and worth quite a bit...very nice cars! And yep everything above is right...having a dog will unfortunately limit where you can go...it's amazing how many beaches are "no dogs". Not to mention all those lovely National parks you will miss out on. Personally I think it sucks big time. I plan to do the same one day and going without my dogs will not only break my heart but will spoil all the fun too. If I can afford it I want to buy a Winnabago Camper, I can then leave/hide my dog inside (small quiet dog) and know he will be comfy and safe. Would limit all those adventurous 4wd tracks though...but worth it have my dog with me. Will follow with interest how you go. We're aware of the limitations that taking a dog with us will bring, and in the planning stages of this trip we had lengthy discussions about whether to get a dog at this point or wait til after we'd done our trip. We understood the impact that having a dog would have on our trip before we got Badger, and we decided we were okay with it. He comes most places with us already as it is. We've got a campsite guidebook that shows all the campsites around Aus where dogs are permitted, and we're planning on staying in mostly free campsites anyway, rather than caravan parks, as we have a pretty self-sufficient set-up with solar power and a camp shower. And having Badger with us isn't really going to change our trip that much from what it would have been if we didn't have him with us, as we weren't planning to do a lot of off-road stuff or 4WDing. The trip we're planning is intended more for relaxing and spending time together, rather than full-on adventure stuff. If we want to go somewhere that dogs aren't allowed, like a National Park, we will just have to find kennels or pet sitters to leave him with for the day.

We've already done quite a bit of driving with him, Sunshine Coast to Gympie a couple times and Sunshine Coast to Brisbane, and then other smaller drives around here. So far he's been fine with toilet stops wherever we take him. But yeah we actually have taught him a toilet cue right from when we first brought him home, so that could be part of it too

Thanks for your advice sheena and buddy1, we have been crate training him from the age of 8 weeks and have a portable fold-up crate that's made of canvas with metal poles. He sleeps in it each night and likes to go in there by himself during the day too if he wants a nap or just to chill out And yep, definitely planning to get a tether. I've seen those plastic-covered wire ones that have a corkscrew spike that goes into the ground to hold them in, but I'm skeptical as to whether it'd be able to hold a staffy... I keep imagining him just ripping it out of the ground.

Haha thank you! Yep he's a cutie all right. I actually wrote a post dedicated to him and the surgery he went through a few weeks back, it's here if you'd like to read & see more pics A bit more about Badger ...nothing like shameless self-promotion, right? :p

My fiance and I are going to be travelling around Australia for the next few months with our staffy pup Badger, who's currently 4 months old. Has anyone else here done this, and have any tips? I've started a blog to document the trip, if anyone's interested in reading : Oz Gypsies And a pic of Badger for good measure