Self-discovery for postie boss

By Dion Teasdale
A TWELVE-month, 30,000km road trip around Australia in a ute with two dogs has been a life changing experience for one Yarra Valley resident.
Healesville postal manager Anthony Hayden sold his house, packed up all his belongings and headed off in search of adventure in June 2005.
Mr Hayden, who has worked with Australia Post for 17 years and been postal manager in Healesville for the past four years, said he set off last year on a journey of self-discovery.
“I’ve always liked my job, but I felt like I was in a bit of a rut and that it was time to reassess my life,” he said.
“My instincts were telling me to take some time off and travel.
“I’m always telling other people to follow their instincts and for a change I decided to take my own advice.”
The decision to take a year off work, leave behind family and friends and sell his house in Wandin — which he’d spent six years renovating — was not easy, Mr Hayden said, but something he felt he had to do.
“I think all of us dream of escaping day-to-day life from time to time, but many people think they’ll leave it until they retire,” he said.
“I thought to myself, ‘why wait, why not do it now?’, and even though it forces you outside your comfort zone and can be quite scary, I decided to take the plunge.”
On June 24 last year Mr Hayden and his two dogs, mother and daughter Staffordshire terriers, Molly and Stella, left Healesville and headed to Broome via South Australia and Alice Springs in a dual cab Ford Courier.
Mr Hayden and the dogs spent the next 12 months camping their way around the country, travelling through central Australia, up and down the coast of Western Australia, across the top end of the Northern Territory and then down through Queensland and New South Wales.
Along the way the trio stayed in dog-friendly camping grounds and with family and friends, and Mr Hayden worked in resorts, art galleries and cafes to keep up the supply of tinned backed beans and the petrol tank full.
He partied with diamond miners and pearl farmers in Western Australia, hung out with outback cowboys and international tourists in the Northern Territory, and along the way gained rare insight into various Aboriginal communities.
“The top end gets a hold on you, puts a spell on you. It is the vastness and the vivid colours. It feels like you are living in another country, like you have been transported to another place,” he said.
“I met some amazing people on my trip and saw the world from many different points of view.
“I’ve always believed that no matter who you are we are all human beings first, and the trip really confirmed this for me.”
Mr Hayden said taking the time off from everyday life was one of the best things he has ever done and encourages others to do the same.
“It can be really good to step outside your comfort zone, to let go of the constructs of society, and look at what else is around,” he said.
“Stepping outside your usual world is challenging, but it is also rewarding.”
Mr Hayden, who spent the final leg of his trip with family in Albury, said he learned something quite unique about himself during his travels.
“I went looking for a sense of belonging, for somewhere to belong, and the funny thing was I realised family is the most important thing and that where I want to belong is with my family,” he said.