Our Story
Hi! We're Matt and Carol and welcome to our travel blog, The Stars and Us.
We are outdoor enthusiasts who love travel, nature, and photography. At the Stars and Us, we believe in having a laugh whilst sharing all the tips, tricks and (lets be honest) pain points of travelling around Australia with or without kids.
Carol is originally from Malawi, Central Africa but has been living in Perth, Western Australia since 2002. Matt is from, and has grown up in Perth. Ever since Matt can remember, camping and exploring throughout Australia has been a core part of his life with his dad teaching him photography as they went. Carol on the other hand is more of a hotel kind of girl who has discovered, since hanging out with Matt, that a billion stars can occasionally be better than just 5!
We have known each other for a decade and have been together since 2017. We are also living proof that it is possible to get out of the friendzone. We have always loved travelling and between the two of us we have travelled all over Australia and all around the world to Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific Islands. In time, we hope the list will continue to grow.
Together we have had two wonderful boys, Malachi, 3 and Yakobe, 1 who are full on fun!!! They love anything that drives, fly’s, floats or makes any kind of “vroom” noise. They especially like trailers, so lucky for us our caravan is one!
Why did We Decide to Travel Around Australia?
Whilst Matt had always hoped to be able to travel Australia or anywhere for an extended period, it seemed like a farfetched idea lost in the business of life, running a business, and taking care of young kids.
Things were going well until mid-2023 when a combination of burnout and illness made him quite unwell and forced him to stop and take time off work to take care of his health. It was during this time Matt began to re-evaluate his “Why” for life and realised he needed a rest to let his body and immune system recover.
Watching from the outside was Carol, who one day in an effort to encourage Matt to find something of joy in life, made the *very* silly promise that if he got better (soon) they could go on a trip around Australia. The rest as they say, is history.
Why "The Stars and Us"?
Well, for us, there is nothing more gently grounding, humbling and healing as sitting under a clear night sky when its just “The Stars and Us”. Sitting in the still reminds us to slow down, talk, reflect and not to take ourselves so seriously.
So now you're all caught up...
Our story is just a small part of it but we invite you to join our little family as we prepare for and embark on our adventures, share in our discoveries and experience the reality of life on the road with kids.
We aim to:
- Be authentic (we can’t help It, really)
- Be informative in our content.
- Share the beauty of our part of the world.
- Have fun!
Hopefully you find our shenanigans a little bit entertaining as you tag along with The Stars and Us.
