Philip Wilcheck is with a group of University of Tennessee students that have been studying abroad in Australia since February. "I wanted to go to experience another culture, to see another part of the world, and of course climb and hike." This is a typical day for Wilcheck in the "land down under."

For this young UT student, Wilcheck said. "The culture in Australia is really not much different from that of the United States. People over here are just more laid back than Americans and dress differently, but other than that they are pretty much the same."

The only real problem he had was with the Australian girls.

"There are just not as many beautiful girls as there are in the south, and I miss that," Wilcheck said.

Wilcheck is no professional climber, but he calls it a passion of his. If he is not surfing on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, then he is probably climbing "blue-eyed blonde," just one of his many favorite routes in the Freycinet National Park.

Climbing in Australia is different from where he got this start in Tennessee and Wyoming. Wilcheck said he enjoys climbing in the Smoky Mountains better because it is cooler and not so arid and hot.

There are some days when he is not climbing and those are the days when he is usually surfing and "slamming booze." Although he is anxious to get back to Knox County to see friends and family, he still has a lot traveling to do.

Wilcheck plans on meeting up with a fellow friend studying abroad in New Zealand to go hiking in Vietnam and Thailand before heading back to Knoxville. He wasn't sure where or what he was going to do in each country but stated that he just wants to travel and see new things.

As you can tell, Wilcheck is a free-spirited adventurer who simply loves to climb and travel. He strongly recommends anyone wanting to travel should add Australia as a stopping point.

"There are kangaroos, the Great Barrier Reef, tons of beaches, lots of good climbing. I could go on for a while."