There are a number of reasons why we haven’t gone down this route.

Cost was the first consideration, to hire a suitably prepared vehicle for the length of time we’re hoping this trip will take would work out far too expensive.

We are going to be relying pretty heavily on the vehicle and at times will be on our own in some pretty remote places. I pretty much know every inch of my Land Rovers and every system. If something goes wrong with it I have a pretty good chance of fixing it or getting it mobile again. If I end up having to do some bush mechanics I’m better off with a vehicle I know inside out.

Using our own vehicle means the money and time we put into it is retained when the trip is over. Whilst the trip to Australia is the biggest and longest trip we expect to do, we have every expectation that following the trip there will be a lot more “mini trips” around the UK, Europe and possibly North Africa.