From May to October, which is winter to spring in Australia, Liminal Caravan travels
from northern New South Wales to Northern Queensland in a bus they purpose–built
themselves. “The days are perfect, the nights are mild, and things grow really quickly.
We are literally harvesting Asian greens in 3 weeks from planting, and if you know
where to look there is an abundance of fruit dripping from the trees waiting to be
picked. Our cost of living is reduced to buying rice, soya sauce and foraging [in the
forest].” Their days are spent visiting close friends and manning market stalls selling
hand-made instruments, various pieces of clothing and a vast array of artworks
collected from their travels through their adopted countries of Thailand, Vietnam and
China.
From November to February, the wet summer season in Queensland, the family travels
to Thailand where they live in a small, traditional ‘Lahu’ mountain village located
several hours north of Chang Mai. Brandon and Jen built a small hexagonal house on
the edge of the forest, where they stay during their visits. “The people in the village are
like our parallel family.”
Any nomadic lifestyle welcomes a vast knowledge of language. Brandon has learnt a
number of Asian languages, “I can speak Thai, Laotian, Mandarin and a bit of Lahu. I
understand northern, eastern and southern Thai dialects, as well as Lahu and some
Akha… I love languages and I can’t stress the value any language has in shaping the
ontological montage that is the experience of the world. I hope to not only improve
the proficiency of the languages I know, but also learn many, many more…”Along with
this, their family holds a strong belief in “promoting the important need for cultural,
language and skill diversity, and the wealth that exist from a plethora of beliefs and
practices.” Through this, we can view travelling as a means for expanding one’s ✿