One Tent, Two Kids, a Car I Hate—and a Trip I’ll Never Forget

We hadn’t saved up.
We didn’t have a master plan.
And we definitely weren’t rocking the Pinterest-perfect itinerary.

But this past school holiday, we packed up our Renault Duster, grabbed the kids, and road-tripped across Namibia for two and a half weeks.

And it ended up being one of the most grounding, beautiful things we’ve done as a family—and a quiet reminder of how we’ve always done life and business.

No Budget, No Problem (Sort Of)

Let’s be honest—we didn’t really have the budget.
This wasn’t a last-minute decision. We’d planned to do this trip for months.

But life happened. Work happened.
And we just didn’t have the time—or mental space—to plan it all out or overthink every detail.

We knew we wanted adventure.
Space.
Freedom—for us and the kids.

So we went. Not with a polished itinerary or perfectly timed bookings—just a rough plan, an open mind, and the kind of curiosity that unfolds as you go.

Meet Trusty Dusty

We did the entire trip in our Renault Duster (which, by the way, is French—the only French thing I don’t love).

Dylan sings his praises daily:
“Fuel economy! So practical!”
And sure, he is practical.
So practical, in fact, that I regularly joke about shopping for retirement homes every time I drive him.

But on this trip? He was solid.
So solid, in fact, that somewhere along the dusty gravel roads of Namibia, we started calling him Trusty Dusty.

We’re trading him in soon (RIP old friend), but he’ll forever hold our desert memories—and I’ll forever be grateful.

And listen…
If you’ve ever named your car—or laughed out loud at “Rosita does not move” or Stevie the TV—you’re absolutely my people.

No Itinerary. Just Intuition (and ChatGPT)

We didn’t have a hyper-planned route.
There was no folder full of links or carefully saved Instagram collections.

We had a general idea of what we wanted to experience, and ChatGPT helped us map the rest as we went (bless Google Maps for still working offline).

What we did have:

• A tent that smelled increasingly like road trip snacks

• A boot full of braai supplies

• Star-filled skies that stopped us in our tracks

• And campsites so quiet, so remote, they reset something in us

We were off-grid.
No screens for the kids.
No reception for us.
Just us, the road, and an unlimited supply of Clausthaler (a non-alcoholic beer shandy I’m now obsessed with—so are the kids, and yes, we’re fighting over the last six in the fridge).

The Luxury Linen Dream vs. Our Reality

I’ll be real.
I would’ve loved to do this trip in a flowing white linen set, sipping cocktails at a designer eco-lodge with a drone following us around.

But that’s not our story.

This was messy.
Magical.
And full of heart.

We camped. We got dusty. The kids fought. We laughed. We got tired.
And somewhere between the silence and the chaos, we connected deeper than we have in months.

What This Trip Reminded Me About Business

The way we approached this trip?
It’s exactly how we’ve always approached business.

We didn’t wait until we had the money.
We didn’t wait for the “perfect season.”
We just started—underdone, underfunded, and half-ready.

And truthfully? That’s how we’ve built everything that’s ever worked.

Every course. Every pivot. Every leap.
Jumping in before we were “qualified.”
Launching before things were polished.
Saying yes before we had it all figured out.

Again and again, it’s those brave, slightly chaotic leaps that have brought:

• The most growth

• The deepest connection

• And the most unexpected magic

So if you’re sitting on something right now—an idea, a dream, a shift—here’s your gentle (and possibly dusty) nudge:

You don’t need the full plan.
You don’t need perfect timing.
You just need to go.

With what you’ve got.
Right now.

Because the magic?
It’s in the doing.

P.S. Want the full route?

In the next post, I’ll share our exact Namibia route, the campsites we loved, and how we kept two kids happy with zero screens and a suspiciously steady supply of chips.

If you're dreaming of an off-grid adventure, you’ll want to hop in. Oh and all my photos were shot on my iphone15;-)