My girls set off to Year 6, 8 and 10 at the start of 2018 with about as much gear as Burke and Wills when they set off on their famous expedition across Australia in 1860. 

There were no camels, tents or barrels of lime juice, but a fair quantity of stationery, uniform items and food instead.

We wondered about bigger backpacks as we certainly weren’t travelling light. 

Katianna spent her whole last day of freedom baking, planning and pre-mixing delicious wrap fillings for her lunchbox.

Yasinta cooked up chicken strips as her centre piece and picked the last of her cherry tomatoes, while Tiani tried to fill all her pretty little pint-sized punnets with healthy bits and bobs for her first day. 

My girls discussed the nutritional value of home-cooked snacks, wraps and sandwiches, evaluating the pros and cons of the pre-packaged verses personally packed yoghurt.

They swore they were off all shop bought biscuits, baked or fried. 

I stayed out of these conversations as much as possible as I was glad to hear their healthy eating lessons were learnt, but my lunch box fatigue was floating very close to the surface. 

After ten years of trying, I have grown weary.

Just as Burke decided that the lime juice was too heavy to lug along on the trip, I’ve left my guilt about every snack being a nutritious masterpiece somewhere back along the track.

I may very well live or die regretting it.

Even as Katianna carefully placed her baby spinach leaves and slices of avocado alongside the herbed cream cheese, egg and tuna filling on her first lunch tortilla, she herself admitted defeat.

“There is no way I’ll have time for this every morning if I want to get my piano practice done.”

She may have to resort to the old ham and cheese sandwich, but at least we modern settlers don’t have to deal with dicing up a dead camel when it dies of starvation, like our heroic explorers Burke and Wills did. 

It’s best to travel light while making sure you never shed the essentials.