Friday 1 June 2018, 9:01. Aboard R/V Tiglax at sea: N 53º 52.1916 E 177º 48.2466 After pointing out and identifying another species of bird nesting on Alaska’s North Slope, my first field boss Matt said, “Steph, people pay thousands of dollars to see these birds.” My response? “Oh.” It’s not that I wasn’t excited to be seeing the birds that inhabit a remote landscape; it’s just that birds weren’t…
Since leaving Fairbanks in mid-November, I’ve been through 8 states while transporting my road bike from California to Michigan via Amtrak, spent 4 of 6 weeks afflicted by 3 different colds, purged a lot from my parents’ house, got treated to Michigan’s wet snow, and went to my first and last Red Wings game at Joe Louis Arena. Now I’m lying in my sleeping bag in Teri’s red and white…
Now that my TB test came back negative and I’m at the end of a whirlwind 3 day stay in Fairbanks, it’s time to share. I’m going on a boat!! I know, I know. Here we go again. However, this time I’ve earned my spot as more than labor. To recap: birds across all of the field sites in Alaska Maritime NWR had a pretty disappointing year. Either they didn’t…
Now that my bags are ¾ packed, my only work remaining is picking up my paycheck and returning my truck, the Spartans are in the Final Four, and I’m getting giddy for cooler weather; it’s time for the conclusion of my search for summer 2015 employment. Just like I knew it would happen, I heard from both jobs on the same day. It’s a tale of an emotional roller coaster…
There will be no drumroll preceding an announcement of what I’ll be doing this summer. No dramatic sigh of contentment. No champagne showers at having persevered with patience through the final at-bat. You’ll see nothing of the sort here, since I still don’t have word of my future. Seeing as I’ve heard nothing, I’ve decided maybe it’s a sign I should just pour out the potential for people to read….
For anyone who’s been waiting for a post, my apologies. As a seasonal wildlife field technician, my mind is often on the upcoming months. For the last few months my thoughts have focused probably 90% of their time on wanting to know what I’ll be doing this summer. With that being the case, I haven’t had tales of my life running through my head. I’ve had plenty of musings on…
Today I swam in Hawaii for the first time in my almost 2 weeks of being here. Some of you may find that hard to understand, but saltwater just doesn’t have a huge draw for me. I’m a Michigander and will take freshwater over saltwater any day. However, snorkeling is pretty popular here on the Big Island, and I’ve known I’ve been missing out on the underwater world so far….
Here I was on a trip home to the Mitten, stranded between jobs and yet unsure of what the next job would entail. Since I dislike working in town and didn’t want to settle for some virtually meaningless job, I’d decided to try for a job that would supposedly pay decently: commercial fishing in the Bering Sea. Now you’re probably picturing me flailing around on some small vessel like you…
Probably my favorite thing about my travel style is the capacity for crazy random happenstances. Admittedly I’m not the most outgoing person, but I seem to bump into the right people at the right place and time. I was too busy having fun in NZ to write about it when it happened, but I ended up joining a group of internationals when I was on my hike up/down Mt. Doom….
I feel like I always mention how I’m not a fan of change, but I’ve given myself a lifestyle centered on change. I was reminded of that once again the night before last as I slept in a much-loved place: Waylon’s kennel at Pack Forest. After staying with a good two-legged friend in northern Seattle for a week and a half**, it was time to venture south to visit last…