In May 2015, Rich East decided he was ready to make some big changes in his life. East dreamed of living on the road, exploring his homeland of Australia and having amazing adventures. And so, East quit his job, sold his home and all his possessions, and bought a van. Then, he set off on his epic adventure.
But East didn’t go on this adventure alone—he brought his cat Willow with him.
Willow immediately took to life on the road. She loves hiking with East, and she also likes wandering around and exploring their campsites. To keep Willow safe, East gave her a GPS tracking collar. That way, she can wander to her heart’s content and East always knows where she is.
“Some people think it’s odd that I’m travelling with a cat, but Willow is so chilled out and absolutely loves our new lifestyle,” East wrote on Bored Panda.
In their years on the road, Willow and East have traveled around all of Australia.
They began in East’s hometown of Hobart, Tasmania. From there, they traveled up to the Northern Territories, going over thousands of kilometers of dirt roads. They’ve seen everything from the Great Barrier Reef to the Blue Mountains.
After 2.5 years on the road, Willow reached an exciting milestone:
“In February 2017 we finally made it to South Australia, marking Willow’s official completion of visiting all 6 states and 2 territories of Australia!” East said. “This is what is known in Aussie adventure cat slang as a Purrfect Eight.”
To celebrate that milestone, East made a video of some of his and Willow’s adventures on the road.
East shares his and Willow’s adventures on Instagram, where he has over 70,000 followers. Everyone loves seeing what East and Willow are up to!
Even though East has accomplished his goal of taking Willow to every state and territory, he says he has no plans of stopping his road trip anytime soon:
“We have well and truly settled into the travelling life and spend our days in forests and beaches just soaking it all in. Although we have almost made it back to our home state there is no sign of us stopping anytime soon. We have adapted to life on the road and have made it our life now, you have to choose what makes you happy in this life and while we can keep going, why would we stop?”
East and Willow have created a great life together on the road that’s full of new adventures every day. If you want to see more photos of Willow enjoying van life, check out her Instagram page.
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