Plug in to adventure: surf star Adrian Buchan takes us on a family road trip  

Surfboards, dinosaur podcasts and a sense of adventure are essential ingredients for a road trip with this Aussie family of five

Adrian Buchan is no stranger to life on the road. “I had about 15 years on the world tour travelling to incredible places all around the world,” he says, smiling.

The former professional surfer, known as Ace, has fond memories of competing on the World Surf League Championship Tour – partly because of the many exotic destinations he visited, such as Tahiti, Indonesia, South Africa and Europe.

But Buchan’s love of travel was ignited years before he became a globetrotter for his career.

Family camping trips up and down the New South Wales coast, to places such as Crescent Head, Point Plomer and Seal Rocks, were a formative part of Buchan’s youth.

“I really do remember those road trips,” he says. “Everything just seemed so exciting.”

Despite having retired from professional surfing in 2021, Buchan, along with his wife, Beck, and their three children, still often hits the road in search of adventure.

“We are lucky on the east coast of Australia to have this incredible coastline,” Buchan says. “I’m grateful to be able to share that with my kids now, and go back to places that I was able to explore.”

The family’s most recent trip was driving – in a Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV – from their Sydney home up to Avoca Beach on the Central Coast of New South Wales.

We asked Ace to talk us through his essentials for a weekend on the road with the family.

Get out and explore

He may be a former pro surfer, but these days Buchan lives a life much like many of us. He describes his weeks as “busy”, balancing the responsibilities of parenthood and a new career off his surfboard, as the chair of Surfing Australia, an environmentalist and entrepreneur.

“We love going to a boutique hotel and swimming in the pool as much as anyone,” Buchan says. “But I think getting out and about and discovering places is much more rewarding work.”

For Buchan, “a sense of discovery and adventure” are integral to any family road trip. “Travelling is about not having plans,” he says. “Just kind of seeing where the day takes you.”
 

Safety and surfboards

“Safety,” Buchan replies without hesitation when asked about must-haves for any vehicle he’d take on the road. “It’s important with a young family.”

He’s just as quick to list what items he would never go on a road trip without.

“The number one thing I’d take would probably be the surfboard.”

There are more than 10,000 beaches in Australia, and the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV opens up access to many of them. Its seven driving modes can handle all sorts of terrains, and its Super All-Wheel Control system offers greater stability on whatever terrain your adventure finds you driving on. Exploring those beaches, it’s no surprise that Buchan, someone whose life is “somewhat dictated by surf”, would want his surfboard with him. And his three children seem to have inherited their father’s passion.

“When we did the road trip in the Mitsubishi, the kids were very keen to make sure the boards were all in the back,” Buchan says.

Buchan thinks Australia’s east coast is perfectly suited to anyone who might want to give surfing a try.

“There are lots of different types of waves,” he says. “No matter what kind of level you’re at – a beginner, like my kids, or a professional.”
  

Make travelling comfortable … and fun

Discovering new places, trying new foods, meeting new people – it’s easy to recall our favourite memories from a road trip after the fact. But there is also, undeniably, a lot of time spent, you know, driving.

When Buchan’s behind the wheel, he prioritises comfort. And the Outlander Plug-In Hybrid EV didn’t disappoint.

“The car was super comfortable,” he says. “The drivability was great, and it was surprisingly really stylish.”

But Buchan has another tactic for comfort on the road, one that parents far and wide will relate to: keeping the kids happy.

“If you can find something that your kids are into, it’s quite a nice way for them to zone out,” he says. “We play games, like I spy, or find a good playlist. My youngest, Harley, also loves listening to dinosaur podcasts.”

Love the environment

From an early age, Buchan’s passion for the ocean led him to develop a love for the environment and a desire to protect it. He’s long been a climate advocate, speaking out about the climate crisis, and between 2020 and 2023 served as a board member for the Australian charity Surfers for Climate.

With its fully electric range of up to 84km, and regenerative braking technology that recharges the battery while it’s driven, the Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-in Hybrid EV can make a road trip more sustainable.

And Buchan was surprised at how well suited the car was to travelling as a family.

“There’s been a lack of options within that portion of the market,” he says. “It’s really cool to see that there are now options that have space and can accommodate a young, growing family.”