A special welcome to my Lightening Online readers (http://www.lighteningonline.com). I hope that you enjoy this site and take the time to enter the competition we have running, detailed below.
A Dream Is Born
Australia is an amazingly diverse and spectacular country. From magnificent oceans to tranquil rainforests, snow covered hillsides to tropical islands. With such diversity in scenery and climate, one could easily spend a lifetime exploring and enjoying the wonders it has to offer.
From a young age, I had always dreamed of travelling this great country and taking in as many sights and sounds as I possibly could. My parents did not seem to share this same penchant for travel and by the time I left home, I knew I had barely seen a fraction of what Australia had to offer.
Early in my young married life, I shared a little of my dream with my husband. I wanted to see more of our great country and share those times with our children. I thought it would be wonderful if we could take them on an extended trip to parts of Australia too far away for a 2-week visit.
For a couple of years we vacillated back and forth between the idea of a longer trip of around 3 months or taking a couple of medium length trips of 6-8 weeks. Eventually my husband spoke with a friend who had taken a similar trip when his family when their children were younger and he gave him some wonderful advice. It went something like this: If you want to do this you're going to have to MAKE it happen. There will never be a right time or the right amount of money. Make up your mind you're going to go and GO.
From that moment, we never looked back. We made up our minds we were going to make this happen, no matter what it took. A trip of this magnitude does not come without its sacrifices and difficulties. In our minds though, it would be well worth it.
Over the past decade we have been busy dreaming, planning, saving and dreaming some more, all the while wondering if we really could make this dream come true.
Now we are on the cusp of seeing our dream come true. We have purchased a Jayco Expanda HL caravan and plans are in place to head off later this year.
As our planned departure date draws nearer, the excitement and wonder of what we have ahead of us grows. With it grows our awareness of just how much there is to see and do in this country. Even with 3 months, we will only have time to see a small portion of what there is to offer!
If you are interested in following the trip of our dreams, we will be blogging it at 3 Kids And A Caravan http://caravan.muxgo.com
WIN!
To help get this website full to the brim with great travel stories, we are offering a wonderful giveaway, exclusive to Lightening Online readers.
All you need to do to enter is become a member of the Way2Go website, enter the special Promotional Codeword mentioned on my website and submit your own travel story.
Prizes up for grabs are:
- The five winning entrants will receive 1 x Rebel Sports voucher (valued at $100) and 1 x one year subscription to Way2Go magazine (valued at $35.70)
- The ten second place entrants will receive 1 x one year subscription to Way2Go magazine
Competition closes at 9am on 3 March, 2009.
Terms and Conditions
So, what are you waiting for? Get signed up and submit those fabulous stories I know you love to share. I can't wait to read more of your travel adventures!
The Way2Go website would also love to hear from you with feedback on what you think of their site. If you could take a moment to do so, I'm sure it would be much appreciated.