My Trick for Discovering New Adventures Within a Few Hours of the City

Ever get the urge to escape the city, only to find yourself drowning in tabs of ‘Top 10 things to do in…’ and never actually booking anything? Yep, been there. Before you know it, your weekend of adventure turns into…scrolling.

These days, I’ve swapped planning paralysis for the less-is-more approach to finding new adventures: pick an area, pack the car, and let the place do all the work.

As a photographer shooting tiny homes across Victoria, I’ve discovered the key to a spontaneous getaway. Arriving in a new suburb, chatting to locals, exploring what’s nearby, and letting curiosity guide the weekend. No giant plan, no endless Google searches – just an escape and a reset in nature. Keep it simple, reconnect, and enjoy a pocket of the world you’ve never seen before.

So that’s exactly what we did. We packed our gear into the new Renault Duster, booked a tiny home in a beautiful part of Victoria, and hit the road ready to see where our spontaneous stay would take us.

Step 1: Book a Tiny Home Stay Somewhere You’ve Never Been

The very first thing I do is search for a secluded tiny home or cabin. Something unique and nature-focused. The stay is the anchor for the whole weekend adventure, and everything else falls into place around it.

Forget spreadsheets and itineraries – just pick a spot you’ve always wanted to visit, or better yet, never heard of before! Whether it’s by the beach, forest, or rolling farmland, make sure to find a stay that feels a little bit special. Once you’ve locked that in, the rest is easy. The location will do the heavy lifting.

When choosing a tiny home, I look for one with a sense of place: space to wander, epic views, animal activity (hopefully), or an extra special feature like an outdoor bath, a fire pit, or big windows that frame the landscape. 

From there, I fill in the weekend with whatever the area offers – hikes, picnic spots, local bites, and sunset lookouts to finish the day. For us, that area was Halls Gap in the Grampians.

We found a secluded, super unique, owner-built cabin that ticked every box: mountains, fire-fed outdoor bath, skies so clear we could see the Milky Way, kangaroos at the doorstep, and a dam a short walk away from the cabin, brimming with wildlife.

Step 2: Be Prepared for Anything and Everything

The best thing about a tiny home or hut stay is how close you get to nature without having to sacrifice creature comforts. I like to call it fancy camping – all the fresh air and starry skies, minus the damp sleeping bag and having to pack half the house. Which means, there’s extra space for activity gear, and the Renault Duster was full of it.

That’s the beauty of being prepared; you don’t need an exact itinerary, just the right gear to say ‘yes’ to whatever the weekend throws at you.

The Duster was the perfect all-rounder for this kind of escape: compact enough to zip out of the city and tough enough to handle off-road tracks. With the back seats folded down, we had extra room for backpacks, hiking boots, and camera gear – all the essentials for chasing mountains and early morning light.

Knowing the Renault Duster has off-road capability, including 4×4 terrain control and 212mm of clearance, gave us the confidence to explore with ease. Whether that was detouring down a dirt track, pulling into a lookout at sunrise, or finding a hidden trail on a whim.

Step 3: Make Time for Detours

Pack the snacks, queue the playlist, fill the tank, and hit the road. The Duster has great fuel efficiency and up to 900km of range, so there was no need for a second fuel stop and no stress of running dry on a lonely country highway.

The drive out of the city was exciting. The car’s packed, and the idea of exploring somewhere new brings this fresh, fun kind of excitement.

For me, part of the fun is in the detours. Pulling over for a coffee, stopping at farm gates for local produce, and following a brown tourist sign just to see where it leads. If there’s a waterfall or a lookout, why not pull in? It’s all part of the adventure.

The Duster’s digital driver display came in handy whenever we veered a bit too far from the main route and had to use digital maps to get back on track, and the wireless phone charging meant smooth transitions when I couldn’t resist capturing the view out the window.

At Ararat, we detoured up to One Tree Hill Lookout with a 360º view across the Grampians and beyond. The Duster powered us right up to the top, and we rolled down the windows, taking in the view as far as our eyes could see. 

We did the classic tourist thing and followed signs to Mackenzie Falls, an iconic stop and one of the biggest waterfalls in Victoria. Parked up, we whipped the cameras out and took one last leg stretch for the day. A steep climb down meant a steeper climb up! But the effort was worth it. The falls, as expected, were stunning and a perfect ‘Welcome to the Grampians’ scene.

The first glimpse of the tiny home was such a welcome sight. Tucked behind eucalypt trees, just a short walk from the car, the handmade cabin had smoke curling from the chimney, and kangaroos bounded in front of us. It was one of those ‘Wow, we get to stay here?’ moments.

Wine was poured, fire stoked, and we set up for a night of stargazing while soaking in the wood-fired bath. This is why you book a nature stay – to soak in a hot tub underneath the Milky Way with the sounds of wildlife at the nearby wetlands. Where else would you have an experience like that?

Step 4: Ask the Locals

Exploration started as soon as the birds woke us. This is what I mean by the stay does the heavy lifting.

Our morning coffee was paired with a golden mountain backdrop, a sparkling layer of frost, and a walk to the wetlands dotted with kangaroos and birdlife. We enjoyed the simple things while the sun rose, before heading out in the Duster to see what we could find.

I encourage you to choose a hike, a sunrise or sunset spot, and a local place to eat. We chatted with locals (our Airbnb host was super informative) and visited the local information centre too. 

We took the Duster on a few off-road dirt tracks in the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park (with the SUV’s ‘Off-Road driving mode’ firmly switched on), winding through wattle and eucalypt forests, climbing to lookouts and viewing points. The Balconies was an easy morning walk, with views stretching far across the ranges and a couple of wallabies hopping by to say hello.

A highlight of the weekend was an epic sunrise hike up to The Pinnacle. With head torches on and coffee packed, we hiked the 45-minute climb as first light started to peak, arriving just as the sun broke over the horizon.

We had the place all to ourselves, and it was pretty amazing. I highly recommend finding somewhere beautiful for sunrise or sunset at least once during your stay; it’s such a magical way to see a new area.

Step 5: Journey Home Feeling Refreshed

By the time we packed the car, we’d squeezed in hikes, a waterfall, sunrise coffees, wildlife encounters, and a soak under the Milky Way. Not bad for a weekend that started with no real plan.

That’s the beauty of basing a trip around a tiny home stay. You just turn up, pack for adventure, slow down, and be a little curious.

Driving back, I realised this is my personal trick for finding new adventures: pick an area, book the stay, and see what’s around! It’s simple, fun, and I always find myself heading home feeling lighter than when I left.