Catherine

meeelooo

Catherine

Wanderer.
Teacher.
Writer.
Crazy cat lady.
Australian.



Europe » France » Aquitaine » Miramont-de-Guyenne April 22nd 2016

A teacher, a personal care worker, a tutor, an arts and crafts facilitator, a camp counsellor, a writer — these are just some the job titles I have had in the past few years since finishing university. And now I can add a language camp director to that list. When I completed my Bachelor of Arts in 2012 and my Graduate Diploma of Teaching in 2013, I was so sure that all I wanted to do was work in a primary school and have my own classroom. So much changed when I realised alternative ways of teaching appealed to me a lot more- whether it was through tutoring students with learning difficulties or working in the special needs sector though my personal care role. Added to this was when I found out there were ways to ... read more
2014
2014
2014

Oceania » Australia » Victoria » Geelong February 3rd 2016

For the past two years, since I packed my boxes and left my flat in Torquay, I haven’t had a fixed address. I haven’t stayed in one place for more than three months at a time. I’ve bounced around countless countries in Europe, living and working nomadically. Somehow, and unexpectedly, my life became a series of one-way tickets, not many returns, and a strong feeling of displacement. Yet, I’m preparing to do the same thing for the rest of the year. What I’ve learnt, amidst packing my bags and moving around so frequently, is that home is, without a doubt, a feeling. I have spent the summer back in Australia and am getting ready to embark on a one-way ticketed journey back to Europe in less than a month. There were many reasons I wanted to ... read more
...since 1995
American Village
Straya!

Europe » Spain » Basque Country October 4th 2015

To be prepared for adventure, you essentially have to be prepared for the complete unknown and potential for anything to happen. This is the mindset I ensured I had a year ago, when I packed 17 kilograms of my life into bags and flew to Dublin on a one-way ticket and hopes that my freelance writing work would pay off. I just wanted adventure, somewhere and somehow. And now I've learnt that the adventure is far from over because it won't end when I go home in five weeks time, not now that adventure has simply become part of me. In the past year, I've travelled across 23 countries by plane, bus, train, or sticking out my thumb on the side of a highway and hitchhiking to my next destination. I've lived and worked through an ... read more
An Irish winter
France in the springtime
Croatia in the summer

Europe » Croatia » Dalmatia August 25th 2015

After spending ten weeks in the one location, the prospect of packing my bags and getting ready to go full nomad was super appealing. The ten weeks spent in Croatia accumulated to what was has been one of the best summers of my life. Working at Camp California has entailed days doing activities with kids from a whole collection of countries across Europe. The children I have met and worked with have some of the most incredible stories. These are kids who speak multiple languages fluently, have lived in many different countries, and have experienced things in life that I didn’t even know about when I was their age. I’ve never worked with a demographic of children like this before and having conversations with such affluent and privileged kids really gave me a broad insight to ... read more
Mountain biking
When me and my girls adopted a dog
Kayaking with co-workers


In the crazy chaos of colour and culture that is Morocco, it hard not to find inspiration in every moment of the day. The adventures of my travels that have led me here have been a combination of everything from stirring to strenuous and from pandemonium to peaceful. The last time I updated this blog I had just started my adventures in Ireland . Fortunately, since I am not very good at maintaining a blog on my own, my amazing travel buddy Abby and I started a combined one, which can be read here . Documenting the 8 months traveling, living, and working together in writing was certainly one of our brighter ideas along the way. We have now said goodbye to each other and the entire time feels like a crazy dream in an alternate ... read more
American Village adventures in France
Wonderful memories created around Europe
Moroccan marketplace

Europe » Ireland » County Galway » Kinvara November 30th 2014

At this stage of my travels, given the amount of photos I post on Facebook in which I appear to bouncing from one European country to another, I am understandably getting some questions from people in my life. The main is, how exactly are you doing all this travel? Obviously, I'm not a millionaire. But I've learnt two simple, albeit highly important, things about how to live. The first: live more and have less.The second: if you want something bad enough, you'll make it happen. So, when I was home for three months in Australia after teaching in France over the European spring/summer, I realised I wanted to stay abroad. This wasn't going to happen magically and I knew I needed a way to support myself. Not only did I work three jobs back home to ... read more
Writer's life
Books equal happiness
Cycling through the Irish countryside

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon July 31st 2014

When I started telling people that I was going to go to Europe, naturally they asked me what I would be doing whilst away. So it was important for me to have an answer available. The basic script that I had rehearsed to explain this job I had landed in France was thus: "I will be working for an American company that runs a language camp program in France. Pretty much I'll be teaching French kids English through ESL classes and immersion activities. I'm not really sure where I'll be working, they said in the interview that I'll likely be moved around different sites in countryside France." Once satisfied with this response, people would ask me how I was feeling about the pending venture. My answer to this was easy: "I can't wait. I'm just so ... read more
Introducing Milo
Milo's Class
Wild West Day




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