We Did It the Hard Way So You Don't Have To

Two people. A decade on Western Australian mine sites. One life we actually wanted. Here's how we got there.

I was standing in some random kitchen at 6am.

Drink in hand. Broke. Wondering what the f*** I was doing with my life.

Work all week. Nothing left by Friday. Mental health at an all-time low. This wasn't living. This was surviving — barely.

I'm Vicki Douglas. I'm from Chester.

And I decided right there — never again.

I came to Australia with one dream: to work in the mining industry. To operate big machinery, be part of something massive, and earn the kind of money that could actually change my life.

It didn't start that way.

I hit rock bottom first. Pruning trees in an orchard in the middle of winter, for pennies. Then I got sacked. I wasn't going back to the UK — I had too much to prove. So I walked into a concrete plant in the nearest town and asked for a job. Face to face. Terrified.

They gave me part-time work that day.

From there I networked. On site. On the mixers. At the pub. Everywhere I could. Months of hard graft, long hours, and thick skin. And then it happened — my first mine site call up.

Greenbushes. South West WA. I still remember that feeling. Finally.

Over the next decade I worked across five mine sites spanning the whole of Western Australia. Residential, FIFO, DIDO. The big paychecks. The freedom that comes from earning serious money and knowing exactly how you earned it.

Now my partner, our two-year-old daughter, and I live in Thailand. Free, happy, and exactly where we want to be.

I figured it out the hard way. So you don't have to.

The Free Range Humans

Vicki, Amy, and our two-year-old daughter. A family who decided life was too short to spend it stuck.

We used the Australian mines as our launchpad. Earned hard, saved smart, and built the foundation for a life we actually wanted.

Between us we have over a decade of real Western Australian mining experience — FIFO, DIDO, residential, underground, surface, processing, construction, and the mighty Port. As the years went on and the bank balance grew, the mines had served their purpose.

We used mining as a platform. And what a platform it was.

There is something special about being part of something that big. The scale. The people. The sense that you're actually building something — even when it's 47 degrees and you've been up since 4am. We wouldn't trade those years for anything.

But the plan was always to use it as a launchpad — not a life sentence.

Right now we're in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Vicki is two months into a Muay Thai course. Amy is doing Thai cooking classes. Our daughter is just along for the ride — as she always is.

Mining made this possible. It can do the same for you.

Why We Built The Free Range Humans

We kept getting the same messages. People from the UK and Ireland who'd heard about FIFO, wanted to do it, but couldn't piece together a clear path. Outdated forums. Conflicting advice. No single resource that covered the whole thing — visa, setup, CV, agencies, money — from people who'd actually done it.

So we built it.

The Six-Figure FIFO Guide is everything we wish we'd had on day one. The exact visa process, the Perth admin checklist, the ATS-optimised CV strategy, the recruitment agency list, the tax timing strategy, and how to turn a mining season into a genuine financial launchpad.

Zero experience. UK or Irish passport. 90 days to your first paycheck.

We know exactly how to get you on site. We've done it. We'll show you exactly how.

vicki@thefreerangehumans