This family of six lives in a vintage Airstream next to their house

In a paddock north of Wollongong sits a sleek vintage Airstream caravan that’s been home to a family of six for the past 15 months.

Kylie and Nathan Hasham and their sons Oliver, 12, Jasper, 10, Monte, 7, and Scout, 5, arrived back at their property in Coledale in February after a 10-month trip around Australia with the 9.1-metre (30-foot) van.

Being back at their own house didn’t mean the end of van life, though.

The Hashams had rented out their home, set on 6.9 hectares (17 acres) and full of mod cons, to tenants until the end of 2020, so the pressure was on to find somewhere else to live.

“We didn’t know whether to rent [another] house, or park the van at a caravan park or at a friend’s house, but in the end we thought it was the best idea to just stay on one of our paddocks at home,” Nathan says.

With the tenanted house only taking up 0.4 hectares (one acre), the family chose a paddock 150 metres away from the tenants and set up the Airstream.

With no sewerage, water or electricity reaching the paddock, they set about getting services organised. And, after emptying the van’s toilet for 10 months, Nathan was a man on a mission.

“I said ‘I don’t care what I’ve got to do, I’m never emptying this toilet again’,” he says. “So, I built my own temporary toilet hut, a little outhouse, and put a toilet in. Some mates came and dug holes for septic tanks, hooked the plumbing up and Bob’s your uncle, we’ve got a home toilet.”

They’re five months into the new living arrangements and still don’t have mains power, relying instead on solar panels and a generator.

In the darker days of winter there’s no extra power to waste so the family is often outdoors. After home schooling, the boys ride bikes, catch yabbies in the creek, and help their parents out – they built the chook pen and the wood shed themselves. They all sit around the campfire most afternoons.

While an Airstream might seem a tight squeeze for six people, the Hashams say two sets of double doors in the van help divide the space into three distinct sections, giving parents and kids some distance from each other.

Kylie and Nathan’s bed sits near the front of the van, close to the kitchen area. A set of doors leads into the boys’ bedroom with bunk beds on either side, and another set of doors unveils the bathroom at the back with tiny shower, basin and toilet, and a small washing machine.

Perhaps no one is more surprised than Nathan and Kylie themselves that they’re voluntarily living in the Airstream now the trip’s over.

“Had you said to us before we went away that we’d have to live in our caravan for close to a year when we got back, I would’ve said ‘Oh, no, no’,” Kylie says.

“I’d be horrified. And a lot of our family were horrified when they realised that that was what was happening. But after living in it for 10 months travelling we realised actually it’s not a big deal at all.”

Nathan agrees. “As long as you’ve got your basic necessities, your bathroom and shower, a kitchen and fridge, a cooktop and oven, that’s all you need. It’s amazing how little you need just to keep going.”

They may sound like pros at tiny living, but before the couple bought the Airstream they were complete vanning novices.

“We’d never caravanned or camped, or even stayed in a caravan park our whole lives,” Nathan says. “One day I came home from work and Kylie was showing me a picture of this big silver bus-looking thing on Instagram and she goes ‘I want one of those’.”

Kylie says their lack of experience meant they were opened to travelling Australia in a way they mightn’t have chosen otherwise.

“I came across Airstreams on social media and I was like, if we’re going to get a caravan, this is what we need to get.”

They bought their 1970s Airstream from a seller in Orange County, California. The van went through quarantine and a three-month stay in a workshop to convert electricals, gas and appliances before being ready for the road in Australia.

All up, the Hashams spent about $100,000 to get the van, but they say it was money well spent – a good thing since they’ll be living there until at least the end of 2020 when their tenants move out.

“I think the biggest positive by far is just lifestyle,” Kylie says. “The kids are outdoors all day long. It’s just completely changed the way we live – for the better.”