A woman has revealed why she upped sticks and re-located from the bustling northern beaches of Sydney to a remote dome in the mountains of New South Wales with her fiance and baby daughter in tow.
Victoria Bowness, 36, said she and her partner Johnny Clapham were faced with the prospect of a giant mortgage on a tiny Sydney apartment when they decided to look at rural options.
After researching for a few months, she said they landed on a 120-acre block of land near Tenterfield in northern New South Wales, three and a half hours inland from Byron Bay.
A woman has revealed why she upped sticks from the bustling northern beaches of Sydney to a remote dome in the mountains of NSW with her fiance and baby daughter (all pictured)
Victoria said she and her partner found the dome (pictured) online in China, and had it imported, upon which point Johnny assembled it and the deck on which it sits
‘Anaya [our daughter] was the reason we decided to move away from our jobs in Sydney,’ Victoria told FEMAIL.
‘We knew if we bought a home with a huge mortgage we’d be forced to work even harder to pay off our debts, and we didn’t want to miss a second of these early years.’
The family decided that they would take a potential salary cut in order to buy something affordable which would allow them to have a much smaller joint income.
The family decided to move away from the hustle and bustle of Sydney, because they wanted to spend every waking minute of the first couple of years with their daughter (pictured)
‘We knew if we bought a home with a huge mortgage we’d be forced to work even harder to pay off our debts, and we didn’t want to miss a second of these early years,’ Victoria (pictured with Anaya) said
Victoria said they found the dome online in China, and had it imported, upon which point Johnny assembled it and the deck on which it sits.
‘Johnny built the deck and assembled the dome. All up it cost approx around $7,200,’ Victoria said.
‘The dome is our bedroom and my office and then we also have a separate building which is our kitchen, living room and bathroom area.’
The dome is completely off-grid and they use solar to power the lights.
The nearest town is 45 minutes away.
The family said they love to wake up with the sun and go to sleep when the sun sets, which is one of their favourite parts about living in the dome
Victoria (pictured) now works freelance as a Business Coach and Social Media Strategist, while Johnny parents Anaya
These days, Victoria said her job is very different to when she was the Global Social Media Lead for an agency in Sydney.
She now works freelance as a Business Coach and Social Media Strategist, while Johnny parents Anaya.
They take it in turns to look after her while the other works:
‘We love that we both get to be with her every day, we never miss a beat which feels so magical,’ Victoria said.
‘She’s only 21 months so she’s at home the whole time right now. There are schools in the nearest town, which is 45 minutes away.
‘But we are looking at buying a second place closer to the coast, and Anaya is likely to go to a school wherever we decide to buy.’
While the family do admit they have to be prepared with meal planning and grocery shopping, Victoria said there are so many benefits to living completely in the wild with spectacular views (pictured with a friend)
‘We love the fact that we have created a life that we don’t need to take a holiday from,’ Victoria said (pictured: the dome)
While the family used to leave Sydney at the weekends to get out into nature, now they said they totally live in nature (pictured: their home)
While the family do admit they have to be prepared with meal planning and grocery shopping, Victoria said there are so many benefits to living completely in the wild with spectacular views that the drawbacks don’t even factor.
‘We are so lucky to be nestled in such a serene area in the mountains. Because the sky is so dark where we are, we get to see the stars every night from the dome,’ Victoria said.
‘We love the fact that we have created a life that we don’t need to take a holiday from.
‘We used to go away at the weekends to get out of the city and immerse ourselves in nature.
‘Now, we are constantly in nature!’
‘We never sit in traffic jams, we have very little outgoings, and I am able to enjoy time at home with my family every night,’ Victoria said (pictured: the couple’s bedroom)
Victoria said she would strongly recommend anyone who fancies a different type of living try it (pictured with her daughter Anaya)
The mum-of-one said she also ‘loves’ watching the sun rise and set each day, and life is easier as a result of not having to go out and commute into a city each day.
‘We never sit in traffic jams, we have very little outgoings, and I am able to enjoy time at home with my family every night,’ she said.
‘Of course, we miss our friends living in Sydney, but we’re not that far away from them and we love having visitors.
‘Plus, we’ve saved ourselves a lot of money by not having constant access to takeaways and coffee shops.’
Victoria said she would strongly recommend anyone who fancies a different type of living try it.
‘It can feel like a big decision, but once you take that leap of faith, you’ll never look back,’ she said.
To follow Victoria and her family online, you can visit their Instagram page here.