About Us — Ian & Pauline
We’re Ian and Pauline, the couple behind Retired Rascals. After a few big life shocks, we decided to stop waiting for “one day” and hit the road full‑time. Now we travel Australia in our Ford Everest and caravan Sunny, sharing real experiences, real costs and the lessons we learn along the way.
Who We Are
We’re not influencers, experts or a polished “travel brand.” We’re just Ian and Pauline — two people who got a second chance at life and decided to use it well. We travel full‑time because it makes us feel alive, connected and grounded, and because the road has a way of reminding you what actually matters.
Retired Rascals isn’t a business or a persona. It’s simply the place where we share what we learn as we go: the good, the hard, the funny, the expensive and the unexpected. If our experiences help someone else feel more confident, safer or less alone out here, then this whole thing is worth it.
Why We Travel
In late 2023 Ian was 57 when he spent two weeks in hospital with severe pneumonia. At 2am one night his heart gave way under the strain — he was rushed to ICU and Pauline was called and told to come and say goodbye. She did. And then he beat the odds. A few months later Pauline, then 58, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Surgery was successful and non-cancerous, but between the two of us we’d had enough.
We both took the better part of a year to recover — physically, mentally and emotionally. And somewhere in that time, the answer became obvious. We weren’t going to wait for “one day” anymore. We were too young to stop living and apparently too stubborn to do anything else.
So we packed up, hitched Sunny to Ernie, and started travelling Australia one quiet campsite at a time. Not to escape life, but to live it more honestly. To slow down. To breathe. To see the country we’d always promised ourselves we’d explore properly.
The road gives us something we didn’t know we were missing: space, clarity, connection, and a sense of being properly alive. And sharing what we learn along the way — the good, the hard, the funny, the expensive, the unexpected — feels like the most meaningful thing we can do with this second chance.
What Matters to Us
What matters to us is simple: honesty, safety, and making travel feel possible for real people. We don’t pretend to have all the answers, and we’re not here to sell a dream. We share what actually happens out on the road — the good camps, the rough patches, the real costs, the gear that earns its place, and the lessons that keep us safe.
We believe travel should feel welcoming, not intimidating. That’s why we focus on clear information, lived‑experience advice and the kind of practical detail we always wished we could find when we were starting out. No jargon. No judgement. No sponsored gloss.
At the heart of it, Retired Rascals is about travelling with intention: slowing down, choosing safety over speed, respecting the places we visit, and being honest about what life on the road really looks like. If sharing our experiences helps someone else feel more confident, more prepared or more at ease out here, then we’re doing something worthwhile.
What You’ll Find on Retired Rascals
Retired Rascals is where we share the things we wish we’d known sooner — honest destination and campsite reviews, the real costs, the safety lessons, and the small details that make life on the road easier.”
You’ll find practical campsite reviews, towing and safety guidance, gear we actually use, and the kind of straightforward information that helps real travellers make confident decisions. We focus on clarity, accessibility and honesty, because that’s what helped us when we were starting out.
Whether you’re planning your first trip, upgrading your setup or already travelling full‑time, our goal is simple: to give you reliable, no‑nonsense information from people who are out here doing it every day.
Meet Sunny & Ernie
Sunny and Ernie aren’t just our setup — they’re part of the story. Sunny is our 2010 Sunland Patriot with plenty of character, and Ernie is our 2024 Ford Everest V6 that tows us safely across the country. Together, they’ve carried us through red‑dirt backroads, long outback stretches and more “are we really doing this?” moments than we can count.
We chose this rig because it suits the way we travel: steady, safe and self‑sufficient. Sunny gives us the comfort we need to live on the road full‑time, and Ernie gives us the confidence to tow her wherever the map gets interesting. They’re not perfect, but they’re ours — and they make this life possible.
Our setup at a glance:
- Tow Vehicle: 2024 Ford Everest V6 Sport (GCM upgraded)
- Caravan: 2010 Sunland Patriot “Sunny” — 20ft 6, semi‑off‑road
- Power: 900W solar (600W roof + 300W portable) with 400Ah lithium
- Comms: Starlink + UHF for remote safety
How We Create Our Content
Everything we share on Retired Rascals comes from real experience. We don’t rewrite brochures or dress things up to look better than they are. If we talk about a campsite, a piece of gear or a long towing day, it’s because we’ve actually been there, used it or lived it.
We stay independent so our reviews stay honest — but we’re open to partnerships that genuinely align with how we travel and what our readers need. If we ever work with a brand, it will be because we trust the product and it fits our lived experience, not because it was offered to us.
We take notes as we travel, track our real costs, test our gear over thousands of kilometres and pay attention to the small details that matter when you’re out on the road. If something works, we’ll say so. If it doesn’t, we’ll say that too. Honesty keeps people safe, and that matters more to us than polished marketing.
Our goal is simple: to give travellers clear, practical, lived‑in information they can trust — the kind that helps you make confident decisions, avoid expensive mistakes and feel more prepared for whatever the road throws your way.
In May 2026, Ian was interviewed live by ABC Radio Townsville about the outback fuel crisis — what it really costs to travel remote Australia and how we managed it. You can listen to the interview here.
What We’re Working Toward
We’re building Retired Rascals into a place that genuinely helps people travel with more confidence, clarity and safety. Not a big brand, not a glossy travel site — just a reliable, lived‑experience resource created by two people who are out here doing it every day.
Our focus is on practical, honest information: clearer campsite reviews, better towing and safety guidance, real cost breakdowns and gear advice that comes from long days on the road, not marketing briefs. We want to make travel feel more accessible for anyone who’s dreaming about it, planning it or already living it.
As we keep exploring Australia, we’ll keep sharing what we learn — the lessons, the mistakes, the surprises and the small wins that make this life worth living. If Retired Rascals can help even a few people feel safer, more prepared or more inspired to take the leap, then we’re heading in the right direction.
If our travels have been useful — buy us a beer.
Everything on Retired Rascals is completely free — no ads, no paywall, no sponsored fluff. We’re two people living on the road on a careful budget, sharing what we learn so others can travel more confidently. If something we’ve written has helped you, a small contribution means more than you know.
Buy us a beer on Ko-fiNo Plans & No Deadlines — retiredrascals.com
Want to Reach Out?
If you’ve got a question, a story to share or you’re interested in working together, we’d love to hear from you. We’re not a big team — it’s just the two of us on the road — but we read every message and reply as soon as we can.
We’re always open to hearing from brands whose products genuinely fit how we travel and what our readers need. If a partnership helps travellers and stays true to our lived‑experience approach, we’re all ears.
Whether you’re a traveller looking for advice, a company exploring a collaboration or someone who simply wants to say hello, our inbox is always open.
Email: [email protected]