The Naked Bin Bag Poms Travel Penniless Around Australia with Wicked Campers

Added: Apr 26, 2009   By: ascheekyasyoucant

Duration: 4:18

Channel: Nonprofit

Naked but for a bin bag dress, embarrassed and quivering with anxiety, we handed over our house keys, car keys, wallets, credit cards, lipsticks and shoes. Stripped of all our worldly possessions, even derobing the very clothes from our backs, we now had nothing. This is how the Cheeky as you Cant journey began. On 21st September we vowed to circumnavigate Australia without spending a penny to show that Australians are fairdinkum the worlds friendliest people. To date we have covered a distance of nearly 20,000kms and have raised over $20,000 for the child literacy charity Book Aid International.Living like a modern day swagman we pick up work along the way and donate every penny of our wages to Book Aid. Collecting alpaca poo for worm samples, oiling bridges, washing road trains, digging trenches, cleaning mountain tops and scrubbing toilets, we have done it all! And every job gets us a little more money to educate children around the world.Youre mad! What are you thinking of? said a road house manager eyeing us up with an incredulous expression as we explain our challenge. Youve got buckleys chance mate. You Pomms have no bloody idea how big Australia is! He said as he filled up our van with fuel smiling and handed us sandwiches. At the very beginning of our journey, wicked campers came to our aid and loaned us the use of a campervan, our bedroom, office, kitchen and living room of the past eight months. We travel as far as a tank of fuel takes us and then we have to stop and offer work in exchange for fuel but many times we are given donations. We couldnt have guessed the kinds of troubles we would come across without the use of money for anything. The everyday problems we come across with regards to food, accommodation, toiletries, parking, even emergencies such as dental treatment and lost contact lenses become a great problem. Relying wholly on the kindness of strangers for our every need, some days we eat like kings in a family home, other days, such as Christmas Day we make do with out-of-date two minute noodles. Living from hand to mouth; chance encounters and serendipity determine our days. Living in a modern western world without money has been a most challenging yet life changing experience. We now have a better understanding of what it is like for people in impoverished countries. To have no money means you lose your independence, and without independence you lose your ability to make choices - what bed we sleep in, what we eat (if at all), what time we sleep and what clothes we wear all these choices have been removed. We have gone without most comforts of life such as pubs, chocolates, comfy sofas and good books. Clothes, biggest surprise of the trip, lack of exercise-putting on weight, what I crave most . Charaters metThe hardest aspect for each of us on the trip is the lack of privacy. As much as we rely on each other to share the load and give encouragement when things go wrong, spending every hour of every day eating, sleeping, working and driving together has paid its toll. We are looking forward to getting back to our normal lives. What would you eat if you could eat anything? What will be the first thing you buy? are often the questions which get us through the day. We have around 2,500 kms left to full circle reach our starting point, Brisbane. And now with newly acquired faith in people our worries of being able to survive without money are not our main concerns for the last leg of the trip. Theyve been replaced by worries of a different nature: will we be able put up with each other?To be the recipients the of the compassion and kind-heartedness Australians show to us three strangers multiple times a day has restored my faith in humanity. This trip wouldnt be possible if it werent for the hundreds of people who have helped us along the way. And with the current financial crisis upon who would have thought that we could achieve what was once thought impossible. visit www.ascheekyasyoucant.blogspot.com or live updates

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Tags: wicked  campers  campervan  cheeky  cheeky as you can't  penniless  adventure  crazy  funny  travel  garbage  bag  black  generous  generosity  kindness  strangers  naked