The Final Countdown

So here we are. We've been as far north on the coast as we (eventually) planned to go, and we've started our slow descent back down to Sydney and beyond. We are currently in Brisbane with the Adams family. Yes, the Adams family. Get it out of your system now...They have been more than hospitable; we really couldn't have asked for better hosts. A few days ago we bought plane tickets down to Sydney. We've been traveling by foot, car, train, and bus so far. Surprisingly this is the first time we've felt a plane ride to be near essential to our travels. We're scheduled to leave at 5 in the morning and to arrive at SYD around 7. The flight is going to be about an hour long but Queensland (current location) doesn't recognize daylight savings time so we are going to lose an hour of our day tomorrow. I'm usually sleeping that early anyway, so an hour lost is no big deal. We will get into Sydney that morning and we will go straight from there out to the Blue Mountains about two hours inland. The plan is to stay with our contact there for a couple of nights then we will head to Canberra, the nation's capital, until Marissa's departure.

Marissa is scheduled to leave this beautiful country in no less than 11 days. I am planning on staying quite a bit longer and hope that the hospitality that the people have shown us so far will continue and enable me to enjoy the rest of my visit.

One thing that we've made a habit of is visiting the library in every city we visit. Surprisingly even the smallest of towns has a library. We were happy to frequent them all: from the cubicle-sized Byron Bay library to the wonderfully diverse Queensland State library. We usually set aside one day to just go to the library and read, write in our journals, blog, or whatever else we deem appropriate to do in a library. With smaller collections like the one they had in Byron, it was quite difficult to find anything that really struck my fancy. Today we had the opportunity to browse the Queensland State library; it was amazing. Out of all the institutions we've visited, this was by far my favourite. I can usually find a book or two that interest me in the first aisle I walk down, and this instance was no different. One of the first books I looked at caught my eye. The title is Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don't Seem to Matter. . . But Really Do. The authors, Blau and Fingerman, delve into detail concerning the importance of relationships that may, superficially, not seem important. One small section of this book mentioned a writer for the NY Times who wrote a personal version of the Top 100 Influential People of 2006. When he read the original version published in TIME, he realized that none of the people on that list seemingly had any direct influence on his life. His list was comprised of relatives, neighbors, close friends, and acquaintances. People from his barber to peers at his child's sporting events made the list. The concept of writing down a list of 100 people seemed a little daunting, but I really wanted to give it a try. I'm not too far into my life so I don't have any mention of the person who led me to a huge break in my career, the doctor who helped deliver my children, or the all-knowing neighbor who helped me fix my house up.

Being with Marissa 24/7 for these past two months really drove this point home. She has been an influence on me throughout my life, but now more than ever. Her views are drastically different than mine on a myriad of subjects, but they have subsequently shaped my views on things to encompass the full subject rather than just my narrow perspective. 


This list is a compilation of people who have influenced my life. They have changed my point of view, they have opened up my mind to a different train of thought, and they have shown me that every stereotype can be broken. They have shown me what I, myself, am capable of, and that with hard work and a good attitude truly anything can be achieved. I have been molded by these people in subjects ranging from career to relationships to education. I've been helped to realize more fully what I actually want out of these things and how to better my life in those aspects and, in that same vein, what I strive to avoid in them. I've learned what kind of friend I am, and what kind of friends I want to surround myself with. Everybody is good at something and has more to offer than you think. I've gone through experiences and learned things I never would have without these people leading me to and through those events. This is a list of relatives, classmates, flings, inspirations, best friends, role models, sources of wisdom, teachers, and those who truly make me want to model myself after them and be a better, more caring person. These are those who have shown that you can make the best of any circumstance you're in and really helped me learn about myself and, as a whole, have been imperative in shaping who I am today. Some of these people are on the list for reasons you can't imagine, and many I'm not in contact with on a regular basis, but trust me, they deserve to be there. Ages range from 16-80 and the span of time known anywhere from a few minutes to 20 years. I'll admit I haven't even met all of these people face-to-face.

• Katherine Weeks
• Richard Weeks
• Marissa Weeks
• Stephen Weeks
• Laura Weeks
• Emily Weeks 
• Clyde Weeks
• Helen Weeks
• Rachel Shupe
• Robert Shupe
• Robert Pennock
• Fay Pennock
• David Pennock
• Gigi Pennock
• John Pennock
• Sean Barlow 
• Aaron Lefler
• Jace Mann
• Jake Lloyd
• Chelsea McArthur
• A.J. Nielsen
• Mathew Nielsen
• Jeff Nielsen
• Julie Nielsen
• Christopher Nielsen
• Chase Brauchie
• Marcus Riches
• Michael Fitzgerald
• Darren Webster
• Robert Duncan
• Andrew McLeran
• Leah Tarrant
• Brady Cottam
• Devyn Zbinden
• Ariana Gonzalez
• Casey Cripps
• Xander Gonzalez
• Hilary Hancock
• Ashley Lewter
• Steve Carroll
• Emily Stephens
• Briahna Mounteer
• Jason Liu
• Shaelyn West
• Alex Phillips
• Cameron Faux
• Melanie Lance
• Jon Trevett
• Brett Burt
• Bethany Hess
• Amberly Hess
• Dawn Hess
• Sydney Lowe
• Keely Kirby
• Megan Metcalf
• Chelsey Huntsman
• Karin Ellis
• Rachelle Webb
• Alexis Gosdis
• Ryan Rose
• Matt Duffus
• Christian Inglis
• Alex Von Dust
• Amanda Barlow
• Monica Walker
• Amy Hardesty
• Jesica Wilson Piettress
• Bailey Gray
• Alex Daniels
• Alyssa Shoemaker
• Stephanie Lewis
• Christopher Thatcher
• Janina Liddellidd
• Jess Rancie
• Erik Huynh
• Kellie Shaw
• Ivan Govorovskiy
• Kylie Jacobsen
• Levi Gardner
• James Gardner
• Isaac Gardner
• Zsuzsi Simon
• Tereasa North
• Jentry Nielsen
• Mali Rahimian
• Tyler Wiseman
• Tyler Brown
• Adrienne Davis
• Spencer Porter
• Erin Martin
• Penny Owen
• Michelle Mirci
• Morgan Lail
• Odette Da Silva
• Paul Vowels
• Deanne Vowels
• Rich Littledyke
• Samantha Berg
• Narine Johnson
• The handful of people who picked me up when hitchhiking.

So I finished typing this up about 45 minutes ago and have been delaying hitting the 'Publish Post' button at the bottom. I'm just a little wary that some may read this list and not find their name listed among the others and be disappointed. I realize that 100 seems like a lot, but once you get writing it is easy to fill up every one of those spaces. There are countless others who have helped me in the past and are destined to in the future, but this is the first group that came into my head. I ran this idea past Marissa and she has written down her list of 100 people, but is anything BUT ready to publish it to the online community. She needs to rework it until it's perfect; she's really afraid of leaving people out. If she actually does get a satisfactory list within the next 10 days I'll urge her to post it here. Everyone  likes being told they've made a difference in others' lives.

I do realize that this blog is supposed to be about our travels, but I've had a lot of time to think lately and I think it's good to write down some thoughts every once in awhile instead of just chronicling our journey. If you're curious as to why you did (or did not) make the list, feel free to email me. I'm not going to put every reason on here now, as I'm sure maybe only 10% of the people on the list will actually see it.

weeks.robert.j@gmail.com

-Robert J. Weeks