Becoming A Stay At Home Dad Changed My Life

by Mattie Gould (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

In 2015 I quit my job. I’d love to say it was to fulfil some life-long goals, like cycling around the world, surfing every continent, or becoming a digital nomad chasing an endless summer. It wasn’t. I didn’t quit for any of these reasons. I quit to become a stay-at-home dad. That first month at home was a real eye-opener. I’m not talking about the daily routines of caring for and playing with a one-year-old, that was great, that was expected. What I hadn’t expected, what I didn’t expect to find, was that being a stay at home parent can be incredibly isolating, it can be rather lonely, and, honestly, it can be a little boring. I feel guilty even writing this, but when your child can’t talk and they spend many hours of the day sleeping, there’s a lot of time spent sitting around. At home, I had plenty of space to think, without the pressure of deadlines or the typical workplace intrigues. It took me a month to realise it, but I realised that I needed something to think about, I needed an outlet. My teens and young adult life were pretty linear and uncomplicated. School, University, a regular job. Sure there were months of backpacking in there, multiple European vacations, even a road-trip surfing the Pacific Coast of America. But these were the interludes, right? These were the holidays between the sensible path. Mum and had always said I should get into travel writing, she’d always enjoyed my emails from overseas, and I’d always enjoyed writing them. But travel writing was like most dreams, it felt unattainable. Something that the lucky few can do, while the rest of us have traditional jobs, like teaching. Even during my English degree, it never seriously crossed my mind that I could find work as a writer. The beauty of life as a stay at home dad, however, was that I was no longer the breadwinner. In fact, I wasn’t earning anything. Sure I was contributing, caring for children is one of the most valuable roles in our society, literally shaping the future, but I also had the time and freedom from fiscal responsibility to chase some personal dreams. One day, out of the blue, I found what I hadn’t really known I was searching for. Like the great cafe in your neighbourhood you didn’t know existed, I came across an online community centred around a website named We Are Explorers. It didn’t take long before I realised I’d found my tribe, I’d found my opportunity. We Are Explorers is a website that shares stories, adventures, gear reviews and guides for travel in Australia and New Zealand. The part of the site that really caught my eye, was the Explorer Project page. I found that the majority of the content wasn't coming from a hidden team of professional writers, but through submissions from regular people. People like me. Greater exploration of the website ensued, followed by plenty of hesitation, self-doubt, and finally a kick up the bum from my wife before I was writing my first submission. A short summary of a local hike in my home town of Canberra. I was beyond stoked and surprised when I received a reply from the editor accepting my submission. I’d done it. I was ecstatic. It wasn’t long before my next article was written, then the next, and the next. I was energised and I had begun chasing my dream. Before long, an opportunity arose to work directly for the website. Genuine paid work for an outdoor publication. It wasn’t a glamorous position (basically data entry), it wasn’t well paid (especially compared to teaching), but it was a solid size twelve foot in the industry door. Fast forward three years. I got that data entry position. I submitted plenty more writing. A few paid writing commissions came my way; my role changed; I kept writing; I began editing a little; I kept writing. When I first quit my job four years ago, I certainly didn’t expect to find myself pursuing my dream as a writer. But here I am and I’m giving it a red hot crack.