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FEATURE  Raising of the Sons



 Live life or just exist in it.
 These words can haunt you when you’re not living a life you’re proud of. But if you live your life like it’s
 your last day on earth, then these words may just inspire you. Breathe excitement into your day, roll
 around in lush green grass, feel mud squish through your toes. Have dust cover your windscreen and fill
 your tummies with amazing food. Ride waves, walk mountains, laugh, dance and most importantly, love
 your life hard. Think of yourself rich, not with money but with experiences.
 We have a saying in our family and that is “if you’re
 dirty, you’re having fun!” So 10 months ago our
 family Amy (mum) John (dad) Jimmy (11) Gus (9) and
 Skipper (5) decided to get dirty!

 Our adventure started when we decided to purchase a
 caravan, get a new car and leave everything we knew
 and travel Australia. It’s quite honestly the best thing
 we have ever done for our family unit.

 So that all seems pretty easy hey. Well this is how
 it all came about. John worked as an operations
 manager in Northern Victoria’s largest garden
 supplier. Amy as a senior Peri operative technician
 in the local Echuca hospital. The boys attended the
 local catholic primary school and threw themselves
 into community sport, which they thrived in. We
 lived a great life full of fun, adventures and throwing
 ourselves into work. The daily grind became
 exhausting. Amy debilitatingly injured her back and
 needed surgery. This kept her from enjoying anything
 life created. Covid hit and we were locked down on
 and off for 15 months.
 “ We asked ourselves what we   At the time of making the decision to leave for
 the trip fear made it difficult to think straight. We
 wanted in our lives, and it   thought of so many reasons why not to go. We were
 completely obsessed with thinking about everything
 wasnt what we had.   we would miss out on. What was really happening
 So, we changed it up!  “  was we were failing to see what opportunities
 we would be providing our family. Wow, the
 opportunities we have experienced on the trip were
 those we didn’t ever consider! The resilience we’ve
 developed, our communication styles improving, the
 bonds and life long friends we’ve made with other
 travellers and time spent with our kids, that will
 slowly become less as they grow up.

 When we told people we were leaving to go on a trip
 around Australia they said “we wish we had done
 that”. Those comments actually made me sad, sad
 for the people that wished their lives away.
 Our decision to travel has taken us from Mallacoota
 to the Macdonnell Ranges. The Daintree to Darwin.
 We’ve chased tuna in Coffin Bay, and crocodiles up
 the Cape. We’ve swam in the blue hue waters in the
 West and wandered the wilderness of Uluru.
 KICKIN UP DUST  start living their dreams, to fall completely in love
 We want to inspire other people to stop wishing and
 with their lives. Go check out our adventures on
 Instagram at “raising of the sons”.

 Amy Hogan
 38  Instagram - @raisingofthesons
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