Mail on the Road

How you handle receiving mail whilst on the road does need a lot of thought, and firstly depends on how long you intend to be away. In our experience short trips under six weeks really don't need a lot of preparation mail wise, PROVIDED you have looked ahead and paid bills falling due in the period of absence well in advance. We used to re-direct our mail to a family member. The cost of this service has sky rocketed of late plus you run into all sorts of problems when the "paid" period expires. After returning home we have had lots of mail returned to sender, and it takes quite a while to detect these sorts of blunders by Australia Post. In our last case it was the Tax Office and GST!! The cost of redirection is $5.50 a month for private and an horrific $33.00 for business. As you get "older" you develop better strategies. We built the biggest letter box in the street - pictured above. Provided you can keep junk mail out, it easily lasts several weeks of no clearing and it's not at all obvious that you are away! Obviously it has to be securely locked and the "No Junk Mail" sign prominently displayed. For longer periods away we simply get a neighbour to clear it every two weeks and place the "lot" in a large prepaid Australia Post envelope - $2.70. For long trips we NUMBER these sequentially. Now this is the tricky part! You need to look into your crystal ball when forwarding. If you get this wrong you can end up waiting at a spot for your mail. Having it all in one envelope simplifies things no end. Separately re-addressing each envelope, even though this is a no cost option, is fraught with problems and can see you waiting around for that "missing" letter.
Post Restante

Australia Post will HOLD mail at any post office for THIRTY DAYS as long as it addressed in the following way.

Your Name

C/O Poste Restante

Town

Post Code

It is simply a matter of working out where you will be in the future. Now having to worry about mail does negate trying to achieve a stress free life! We have found that using email on the road is a "neater" option. What we do is get our son to open our mail each week. He then sends us an email summary. If any bills need to be paid we use the method outlined below. Getting access to the internet on the road is getting easier everyday. The cheapest way is to use council libraries where the service is usually free. The downside is you do have to book in advance and can't always get access the same day. Alternatively you can use Internet Cafes. These range in cost from $2.00 to $6.00 per hour. Getting mail is important and if you get it wrong it can cause lots of stress and cause other bill related problems, so we suggest you really try to work this one out well before departure.