Jessica Dobson, Dominik Gasser and their son, Mason travel 11 months of the year with Silvers Circus in their homely caravan.
Living life like a circus performer has been mooted as an offbeat solution to Australia’s housing crisis.
Silvers Circus is back in Melbourne, but with performers spending up to 11 months on the road touring around the nation and living out of caravans — a leading housing expert believes their nomadic lifestyle could be an “emergency triage solution” to save Aussies from homelessness.
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Jessica Dobson, fiance of Dominik Gasser who is the sixth generation of the Silvers Circus family, said they had done everything they could to emulate their Melbourne home in their caravan, from bringing along her kids’ favourite toys to cosy bedding.
“It’s not like when we go from the house to the caravan, we feel like we’re in two separate places,” Ms Dobson said.
“Having a family together as much as possible is definitely a non negotiable.”
Jessica and her family’s huge caravan they live in when the circus is travelling around Australia.
The 40-year old added that living in a caravan wasn’t as restricting as it seemed – it was the opposite.
“You get so much freedom from living in the caravan where you work,” she said.
“There is no rent to pay, there is no water and electricity bills, and you don’t have to mow the lawns.
“You get to change locations and have a new back yard and find new favourite restaurants or cafes or museums or shows or whatever it may be.”
Silvers Circus ringmaster Walison Muh said living on the road as a part of the circus was the “best and the craziest life anyone could ever have”.
“It’s feels like home, it is exactly the same; I’ve got everything I need, everything that I would need in a house,” Mr Muh said.
“It’s just amazing to be able to have your own little home and (it) following you wherever you go.”
He said he was renting out his property in Brazil but loved his Australian home on wheels.
Ringmaster Walison Muh said living on the road with the circus was the vest and craziest life.
Suburbtrends founder Kent Lardner said rental properties, especially in the nation’s capital cities were unaffordable for a large percentage of Australia’s wage earning population.
“We need an emergency triage solution as an alternative to tent cities that are emerging everywhere,” Mr Lardner said.
“We keep on talking about supply; we’re not inserting the language of and we need a third or more of that supply to be deemed affordable.”
He noted that increasing the number of the nation’s caravan parks wouldn’t threaten existing property owners and could be bolstered swiftly.
“We could to into government land quickly; I think we could double the amount of caravan park lots that we have in Australia and we could do it rapidly,” he said.
Jessica Dobson, Dominik Gasser and their son Mason, 10, living life in their caravan.
Relocatable and expandable homes manufacturer VanHomes founder Vito Russo said their movable abodes, or “instant homes” were a fraction of the price of a brick-built residence and could even look better.
He added that they were also cheaper to maintain as smaller living spaces often meant lower energy consumption.
The Silvers Circus is running until August 11 in Richmond and then moves to the Burvale Hotel in Nunawading from August 16 to October 13.
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