© Beverley Paine

In October, 2005, I started an online camping group for South Australians, hoping that people would use it to organise SA camps as I truly believe that camps are an excellent way for families to get to know each other and learn about homeschooling.

Since then it's been used to coordinate several really great camps. I'm sure that if more people knew about the group they'd use it more often. As well as the opportunity to share the workload in organising camp, the website is a great way to record information about different campsites and camps around South Australia, including caravan parks.

My hope for the yahoo group was that it would be a nexus for families who like going camping to invite others to come along. For example, if we were still homeschooling, we'd invite people to join us at a caravan park on the Yorke Peninsula in three weeks time for a few days. The group has sparked impromptu camps of that nature.

Camps are a really effective way of building a sense of homeschooling community.

Just recently I began an Australia wide camping group to complement this one because there are so many homeschoolers writing to me about their pending trips around Australia or interstate.

There is a more personal reason too - Robin and I are setting off on an eight month trip around Australia next year and we'd like to travel 'convoy style' with some of these families. The new group is an easy way of getting to know different families doing, or hoping to do, the same thing.

My big dream is a huge corroboree style get together annually, convoys of homeschooling cars meeting at a huge camp/festival... wouldn't that be so cool!

In the mean-time, we can share our travelling stories and tips (as homeschoolers) through this new yahoo group. The group is primarily for Australian homeschooling families interested in going on camping treks together. We don't have to go as one group, we can go in small groups, on big or small treks, even to local places. The aim of this group is to facilitate communication between those of us with 'wanderlust'!

People can post their trip itineraries in the Files section, or their camping holiday photos in the Photo section. Adding our trip dates to the Calendar will make it easier for us to arrange meeting or dropping by for a visit!

The idea is to use the group to share, offer tips, plan visits to homeschoolers near and far, and plan camping holidays together!