Pre-Travel

So less than 2 weeks I travel to Malaysia and it still hasn't completely sunk in. My mate Dan Read is already out there, he flew out last night and landed earlier today. Looking forward to hearing from him and how he is settling in on his first week. I have sorted the last few clothing items that I needed like hats and shorts. I still a few items to get and sort out but other than that almost ready, packing is going to be interesting finding how much space I have. Trying to catch up with as many people before I go, had so much great support from family and friends. The thought of leaving for 5 months has made me nervous, but this has been the dream for so long. Real field work, making an impact on conservation, it has been the reason I've done my degree. It's been a strange year, with a lot of mixed feelings towards the course and university life, however, since finding out I got this placement this has changed everything and it has been all I have thought about. People ask me what course I do, to which I reply "Animal Behaviour and Welfare", often replied with "So you wanna be a vet?". I don't mind explaining that I've done the vet experience and it's not for me, the goal is to become an ethologist. An Ethologist studies animal behaviour in natural conditions, often with the aim to gain a greater understanding of the animals and to help with conservation. This experience in Malaysia will hopefully help gain and develop my skills as a scientist. To have the opportunity to see and study turtles I am very grateful to the Fuze Ecoteer Organisation for accepting me. Spent half the interview talking about my time at Port Lympne working with Rhinos just shows how important experience is. Probably won't update this until when I'm out on the Island, there will be photos and updates on the work I will be doing while out there. Not sure how often I will be able to update this but will do my best to do it once a week at least. Thanks again everyone who has supported me, a special shout out to my parents.