As a Dutch family of 5, we are travelling through the Australian wilderness in our Ford Ranger and off-road caravan.

It all started back in 2013 when we, Igor and Geeke, moved from Amsterdam to Sydney. In search of that foreign adventure, the freedom, space, and sunshine. With only a backpack on our backs and a new job for Geeke, we left our cold little country. 

After four very happy years and two children born in Sydney, Igor's father in the Netherlands became seriously ill, and we decided to move back to the Netherlands to be with him for his final year. Due to the arrival of our third child and COVID, we were ‘stuck’ in the Netherlands longer than planned.

 

In 2022, after 5 years in the Netherlands, we were finally allowed to return to Australia on a new work visa; this time, Igor had found his dream job in Sydney. Less than 1.5 years later, Geeke’s mother became seriously ill with only a few months left to live. Once again, we flew back to the Netherlands with our entire family, and instead of the few weeks predicted by the doctors, it turned into 8 months. We were able to really enjoy this ‘precious’ time with family.

All in all, we have now been living in beautiful Australia for about 8 years. We thought we would stay here forever, building our future together with our three children, now 7, 9, and 11, but we recently decided to remigrate to the Netherlands. We are so in love with Australia: the beautiful landscape, the warm climate, the relaxed, hospitable Aussies, the true wilderness, and the stunning natural beauty. However, through the loss of family, we have realised that for us, it is not about where you live, but about whom you share your life with. We miss the friendships that sometimes started as early as kindergarten in the Netherlands and are simply irreplaceable to us.

We have been travelling through our beloved Australia for a year now, camping off-grid in the most remote places, and homeschooling our children. It would be nice if you followed our journey via @wickedwildlings

P.S. We are moving back to the Netherlands in early August 2026.

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And now; “Meet the Team” 👋 :

🛠️ Igor – Main driver, our positivity guru, van mechanic, and the guy who can fix anything with a zip tie and a bit of willpower.
🗺️ Geeke – Navigator, trip planner, mainly chief organizer, and the one who keeps us all moving to the next best waterfall.

And the real stars of the show:
🎒 Flint – Our camp cook and social butterfly. He definitely makes the best pancakes and has traded the classroom for the great outdoors and hasn’t looked back. Being the first to make new friends, invent new games at every new camp.
🌟 Famke – The creative soul with a photographic memory. You’ll usually find her trying to out-playing the boys with competitive running games, but also the one who keeps us safe by spotting the risks the rest of us miss.
🔥 Faas – Our youngest explorer and wildlife spotter. Small, but mighty, and definitely the loudest voice of us all!

We aren’t just “on vacation”— we’re living a life of dirt roads, tight spaces, and constant discovery. It isn’t always easy, and we’re currently navigating the “what’s next?” phase of our journey, but we wouldn’t trade this family time for anything.