The one thing you should do before pursuing 'campervan life', according to couple

Like many people during the pandemic, couple Dani Lunardi, 35, and Wade Badby, 36, reassessed their lives in Sydney.Wade said they felt "stuck on the hamster wheel," in their jobs.He was an operations manager and she was a finance manager who is originally from Brazil.READ MORE: Always cold on airplanes? A flight attendant explains the unexpected reason whyThey imagined following the dream of packing in their jobs, buying a van and setting off on a road trip around Australia."We started talking, throwing the idea around. We had rented vans in the past," Wade tells 9Travel.READ MORE: Surprising Aussie city named in list of world's most beautiful skylinesBut they had one problem which threatened to hold them back - their two cats, Jon Snow and Gatinha.They didn't want to leave them behind and didn't have anybody they felt they could trust with them.READ MORE: The $10 Kmart buy travellers are obsessed withSo they took them along.After fitting out a van themselves, they took the plunge, quitting their jobs and setting off in March 2022, complete with the two kitties."They adapted really well, very fast," Dani says.READ MORE: Cruise expert shares mistake you might be making at the buffet"We started with harnesses, doing the training, but then one figured out to escape."Then we realised she would never go anywhere too far from the van, so we just bought AirTags and let them go without harnesses."We'd never take our eyes off them."READ MORE: Top five mountains to visit in Japan, beyond the iconic Mount FujiOver the next two years the couple drove around much of Australia."We completed the whole lap," Wade says.Dani worked online part time, and they gradually now built up their social media followers to make money that way, too.READ MORE: These are the top destinations in France for Aussie travellers right nowBoth have different parts of the trip which stood out.For Dani, it was Uluru."I still remember the feeling of seeing it for the first time," she says.Wade's highlight was northern Western Australia."The beaches and the weather, everything up there is amazing," he says.Of course living in such a small space is a challenge for any couple.Surprisingly they said they didn't have any major fall outs."You quickly learn though if you're meant to be together or not" Wade says.The couple does have one essential tip for anyone who dreams of joining the van life lifestyle, however."We always recommend people to rent a van first, probably a couple of times," Dani says.READ MORE: Here's why summer destinations are actually the perfect winter getaway"We did that twice, in New Zealand and Cairns and that's when we realised what are the things we can't live without - like a bathroom and a toilet."This life sounds and looks glamorous on Instagram but it's not for everyone."While their van was worth up around $80,000, you can get a basic model for as little as $20,000.And with free camping allowed in some places, they only spent a few hundred dollars on camp site fees.Add to that the cost of fuel being similar to what they would spend in a week driving to work in Sydney, and it was a cheap way of living.The couple now sold that van and are working on another, which they're documenting online.Meanwhile, eBay Australia data indicates more Aussies than ever are fitting out their motorhomes with the essentials.Sales of magnetic fly screens for the vehicles have increased 171 percent, according to the site.Car window shades sales have risen 108 per cent, and Aussie spending on car fans went up 124 per cent.