Time is Running Out

Things are wrapping up here at the Wedemeyer house. Boxes of books and clothes were trucked backed to the central valley for storage, desks and chairs were loaded into the Ford for a last chance delivery tomorrow, and the backpack is being packed for a year plus long adventure around Australia and the rest of the globe. This may all sound somewhat dramatic to you; most people eventually move out of there college towns to pursue a career in a new location. To me this feels different, I’m not doing it for work, it’s all about the spirit of adventure. To walk the earth as an individual learning what it means to be alive. I’m looking forward to meeting some amazing people, eating some great food, surfing some perfect sharky waves, and racking up my species list. Sure I have potentially a lot of work lined up, but what I really hope to get out of this experience isn’t green, it’s the priceless experience gained by trying something new and different.


It’s finally starting to hit me that I’m leaving the town that I’ve become so familiar with over the past 6 years, and the amazing people that I’ve shared countless memorable experience with. Seeing my possessions being carted away is a freeing sensation, close to shear weightlessness. Yet the emotional baggage that ultimately comes with parting ways with those you love is starting to build. Again, this may be me being over dramatic as usual. Chances are I will see everyone soon, but it’s still hard to pack up and leave your comfort zone. I’m having the most trouble keeping myself from thinking about leaving Reef. He’s been a very loyal, well behaved, intelligent, and overall awesome dog; the best dog in the world. I don’t think he’s going to cope very well, and I’m worried that he’s going to live worried about when I’m going to return. I’m confident though that he’ll enjoy his life with Conner and my parents, and at least I’ll be able to see him every now and then. I raised a good kid, not it’s time for him to start the next phase of his life as well.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen over the next few years, which is what makes it so exciting. I know almost for certain that I start the dredging project north of the Great Barrier Reef on August 3rd, and will work 10 days on 10 days off up until HARC starts in mid September. There should be more studies coming up that I may be able to jump onto in Australia in between my MMO work, including a bottlenose dolphin study coming up in December. I’m going to look into going to grad school over there as well. I really want to travel outside of Aus too, so keep in touch with me whoever you are and let me know if you feel the need to travel.

1 last trip on the whale watch tomorrow, 2 more days of packing, 3 days left in Monterey, 4 days to departure from California….world….here I come.