A family have moved to the other side of the world to travel full-time.
Kevin and Jennifer Maguire from Andersonstown moved Down Under after falling in love with the country while honeymooning on the east coast.
After having two children, the family decided to make a one in a lifetime change to their lives during the coronavirus pandemic, Belfast Live reported.
What begun as a move that was only meant to last a year back in 2008 has seen the Northern Ireland couple set up a life for themselves that has lasted 15 years and now seen them take to the road.
"When we came home from our honeymoon, we decided that we wanted a piece of the Australian lifestyle so we worked hard to get a visa and were only supposed to be here for a year but we have never looked back," Jennifer explained.
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"It is quite common here for people to do the lap of Australia but it is traditionally done by the 'grey nomads' who are essentially retirees, but in recent years it has become more common for families with young kids to pack it all in for a year and go off on vacation.
"We thought we would do it for 12 months and rented our house out in Queensland. We were supposed to go back in November 2022 but have decided to keep going."
For the first 12 months they relied on their savings to travel full-time and saw the adventure as a bit like a gap year for the whole family.
Now they've decided to make life on the road their reality fulltime, meaning they have to stop off every now and again to build up their funds.
In Albany Kevin took on full time work in the telecommunications industry and Jennifer got a job in an office in a caravan park, meaning they could stay there for free.
The money they earned has allowed them to travel another portion of the country without having to work.
"We started our travels when there was state by state lockdowns here in Australia," Jennifer said.
"We went from Queensland to New South Wales, travelled through the outback and spent four months around South Australia. Then we went through the middle to Uluru before travelling to West Australia last July.
"We loved West Australia so much we decided to keep travelling and seeing more. At the moment we are trying to figure out our next work stop."
Kevin and Jennifer began homeschooling their kids during the pandemic and have continued to do so as they wend their way across the country.
At first teaching the kids in a caravan environment was difficult, but now the parents have started taking them to museums, art galleries and aquariums while on the road.
The family are currently visiting the Ningaloo Reef where their children have been learning about the ecology of the local environment.
They have been chronicling their travels on social media, including a recent swim with a whale shark - something Kevin said was a bucket list moment.
"I set the Roving Maguires pages up on the day we left so that our family and friends could keep up with what we were up to," Jennifer added.
"We are normally quite private people and wouldn't really post on our own social media pages so as we settled into that lifestyle, it has grown because their is a brilliant travelling community out there who love to see what we are up to.
"We also wanted people to see that there is other ways of living. It is not just the nine to five grind where you work until you are in your sixties, retire, get sick and die."
Jennifer and Kevin plan to continue their travels until 2025 when their daughter is due to begin High School.
"We plan to finish up towards the end of 2024 so that she can start high school in January 2025 although we don't know if we will go back to Queensland because I love it here on the reef," Jennifer finished.
