So it has been a little over two weeks

Entry Penned Beginning

Wednesday January 1st 2025 C.E

09:56 GMT+11

I haven’t posted for lots of reasons really but the biggest one has, I think, been the limbo space I have been in as things have moved forward in fits and starts.

StarChild made it out to Thailand and all our cats came through safe and well; I will admit to being somewhat surprised as I was not entirely convinced they would all weather the travel okay, and once again they surprised me.

Things were a bit dicey in terms of timing but I made it to Australia in time to have X-mas lunch with my dad and it has healed my heart in ways I can’t describe to see Robert again.

On the less fun section of things we had additional screening for customs which was a substantial anxiety and rather upsetting as once again the assumption is made that I am a bad person (TM). Specifically the fact that I am present to help provide (at their request) emotional and logistical support for someone who is coded femme is read as me trafficking them or otherwise coercing them.

It is understandable but also deeply upsetting; my task later this week will be to write out a handout to be given to customs officials in these sorts of situation. It should not be necessary to have to explain the concept of chosen family; but then there are great many things in this world, especially when it comes to bureaucratic systems, that are necessary when they should not be.

New Year has seen me settled into regional Victoria, about an hour out of Bendigo. Rose’s mother has kindly opened her home to our little family and welcomed us in, providing us space to base some of our roaming’s in Australia from.

Watching Robert make a connection with his grandma and seeing him be accepted exactly as he is warms my heart; while it has been an adjustment for him he is enjoying the freedom that our travels are giving him and is embracing new experiences…. until they are too much and he says no and retreats to his safe spaces to recharge.

So far most of our time has been focused on setup here and winding things up in the US but we have had some time in Bendigo, a “quick” (3.5 hour drive) run up to Mildura and of course some time at the lake that I spent my summers at as a child.

As I write this my dear partner Nix is in the air on their way, with our young adult Bee, and tomorrow I will pick them up at the airport and welcome them to the land I grew up in.

I am still stretched too thin and doing too much but I have high hopes that will ease up soon and in the next few weeks I am hoping to spend more time at the lake and seeing the country of my birth through the new eyes of my family.

As we move into the new year I have a bit of paperwork to do now that I am in Australia again but the goal is to not get stuck but rather keep travelling about in small groups and as individuals.

With the last of the folks leaving the US I think I will be able to let myself post here more often again, and have more interesting things to post; or at the very least be doing more things even if they aren’t interesting to others 🙂

-Robert James-Noonan O’Wayreth