Road To Recovery Joe Bond Set To Finish Trip Of A Lifetime After Mental Health Struggles

Joe Bond and her dogs at home in Forrest Beach. Photo credit: Victoria Velton

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By Victoria Velton

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Twelve years ago, Joe Bond was getting up at 5:30 in the morning to exercise before heading to work, then stopping at the gym again on her way home. She was physically strong, active and confident in what her body could do. Serious repeated injuries changed that.

Now, she celebrates just walking across her yard.

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Between these two moments unfolded a long mental health journey.

In 2021, Joe reached the peak of her struggle.

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“That year saw me on suicide watch and severe mental health issues, where I just couldn't function,” she said.

It took around nine months for Joe to begin working through what was happening in her mind, with days when she could not get out of bed.  

Her dog Bree Girl become an important support, becoming a trained therapy dog. When Joe could not find a reason to get up, Bree gave her one.

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“She’s the reason why I ended up getting out of bed every day because she was the one that would sit by my bed watching me, and she would need to pee, basically,” Joe said.

“So I had to open the door. I had to get up physically, get up out of bed, and open the door.”

On 20th December 2021, Joe reached a turning point.  

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Having always loved travel, she set off on a trip she had dreamt about for years: leaving her home in Sydney and taking a lap of Australia in a caravan.  

Within the first week of being on the road, she realised she had found something she had desperately needed: a sense of freedom.

“I really didn't understand that I could make all these decisions myself, and I didn't have to check with anybody,” she said.

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“I didn't need approval. I didn't need someone to say it's okay.”

“I felt I learned to be confident in who I was to be able to make those decisions,” she said.

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“Once I learnt that, I became a lot stronger mentally to say, ‘Yes, I can do this. I can keep going.’

“Every day was a new day. Every day was a new destination. Every day was a mindset,” Joe said.

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“I'm going to keep going.”

Joe believes travel has made her the person she is today. It gave her the opportunity to manage her own budget, learn about mechanics, try different jobs and experience a life outside the routine she had previously felt trapped within.

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“I was so stuck in that mortgage, going to work, walking the dogs, the daily grind, that I couldn't see outside of that square,” she said.

When Joe reached Forrest Beach, she stopped, and decided to call the town her new home. Now, she’s decided to take on the last leg of her trip, travelling to Sydney to close the loop.  

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A major challenge in this last leg will be Joe’s physical health.  

To accommodate her limitations, Joe tries not to push herself too hard, and finds opportunities to enjoy the sights her way.  

“If I set myself up to fail, then I'm going to fail,” she said.

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“But if I set myself up to say, let's have a look, I might be able to walk 500 metres. Let's give it a go. Five hundred metres is better than nothing.”

Mentally, there are still difficult periods. But Joe feels she is better equipped now to deal with them.  

A major step has been learning to identify when she is struggling and say it out loud.

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“It's not easy, but it's getting easier,” she said.

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“As long as I tell someone, or tell my friends or my family, ‘I'm not okay’, then they go, ‘How can we help you? What do you need?’” she said.

“I think it's all in the mindset.”

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For anyone struggling with their mental health, or trying to come to terms with a life or body that has changed, Joe says ‘It's okay.’  

“You've just got to listen to yourself and find something every day to look for.”

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