traveling

Teddy Bear Travels

/ Cate Tracey / 4 Comments

Hello, long time no blogging!  Yet again, I have been MIA for quite some time; however, I’m back and ready to focus on blogging again!

When we travel for an extensive amount of time, it’s always nice to have something from home.  Some bring a photograph, others a keepsake…but for me, it’s always my teddy bear, Pierre!

Pierre is a 3-year-old Build-a-Bear who my boyfriend and I made for Christmas in 2015.  He is very loved, privileged, and fortunate to have seen all these incredible places!  I hope you enjoy his journey as much as he does (and as much as I do)! 🙂

Pierre loves to go boating on Michigan’s many lakes!

He and his wife, Claire, have even ventured to Chicago with me!

Pierre and his best friend, Chestnut, were my travel buddies in Sweden for my semester abroad.

Pierre has even been to castles, something that many humans haven’t even experienced!

He loved riding through Kalmar, SE with me!

Praha (Prague) was one place where Pierre could meet some cool cats 🙂

…but he enjoyed being in my dorm with Chestnut, Coconut, Barry, and Sandy!

Pierre was able to meet one of my best friends from Hamburg, Germany too!  She gave us a care package when we arrived!

I bought this bag in Copenhagen, especially for Pierre! He needed it for our weekend in London together 🙂

DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

We enjoyed sunny days on the dock near the Kalmar castle 🙂

Pierre and I probably loved our time in Norway the most! 🙂 It made him feel at home with all the boating we did in those two weeks…

We love quality time with Juan!  Pierre loves Lake Michigan 🙂

Pierre was also my buddy on my train from Denver to Grand Junction to visit a friend from study abroad!

More traveling is in Pierre’s future, and mine as well 🙂

My Travel Timeline

/ Cate Tracey / 4 Comments

One major flaw of mine is that I compare myself to others – I can’t be happy and reach my full potential if this nasty habit continues…

Loved ones around me are “progressing at faster rates”: moving into new places, getting engaged/married, are more financially stable than me…

Rather than getting bitter, I want to get better!

And let’s face facts here: I wouldn’t be who I am today if I hadn’t traveled and seen the incredible things that I’ve seen!  So what if I’m carrying a bit more student loan debt because of study abroad?  Who cares that I’m not living with my boyfriend at the moment?  I knew that travel would alter my life’s course, and that’s fine.  Why do I care what others around me (family, “friends”…) think?!?!

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In honor of my choices, that I am VERY proud of, here’s my travel timeline:

Canada (as a baby several times and again in 2011)

*no photo from Canada unfortunately…*

Germany (2012 – one month)

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France (2014 – two months)

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England (2014 and again in 2016)

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Italy (2014 and again in 2016)

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The Netherlands (2014)

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Iceland (2014 and again in 2016, also visiting again May 2018)

*no saved photos of Iceland unfortunately…more to come this spring!!!*

Denmark (a few times in 2016)

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Sweden (2016 – five months)

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Czech Republic (2016)

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Norway (2016)

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Estonia (2016)

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Russia (2016)

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Finland (2016)

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Ireland (2016)

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Scotland (2016)

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Hungary (2016)

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Spain (2016)

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Thailand (2017 – one month)

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Macau (2017)

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I hope this inspires you to live your OWN life!

“Do your thing and don’t care if they like it,” – Tina Fey

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My Week in Macau, China

/ Cate Tracey / 7 Comments

Back in May before I returned home from Thailand, I visited a friend who lives in Macau. Gloria and I met in 2016 while studying in Sweden – although we talked about visiting one another, I never thought I would be in such a unique place!

Macau is like a mixture of China (or at least what I would assume China is like…) and Europe. This is due to Portuguese colonization and influence on this island near Hong Kong.

What a great week I had! It’s evident from the photos below:

July in the Big Apple

/ Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

Hello again, and Happy Halloween!

I frequent my introductions with “I haven’t posted in awhile…” or something along those lines.

I need to stop doing this.

Anyway…I have been living at home in a small town for a little over a year now, and it makes me crave the city.  Thankfully, I was able to visit my cousin, Katy who lives just outside of NYC.  Our times together are always well-spent!


We first visited a food festival in Brooklyn, where I tended to look nine months pregnant in every photo (it was the wind – I swear)!! I ended up getting freshly-squeezed peach lemonade and truffle fries with aioli for ‘brunch.’


Next, we visited the High Line in west Manhattan.  The last time I visited NYC, the High Line was still under construction; it was definitely worth the wait and the strong winds!  We once again took several photos, and I had more to eat (I think dark chocolate gelato this time?).



We decided that the wind was a tad overwhelming and headed to Queens.  Katy mentioned something about the “Museum of the Moving Image.” I was sold!


Katy and I then agreed that margaritas were suddenly necessities and ventured over to the Chipotle test kitchen.  They even had queso, so this was basically my heaven-on-earth…


The infamous Fearless Girl was on our way to the Staten Island Ferry, which led to us posing with her immediately!


Although the ferry might have been windier than the High Line, it was SO worth it!  We attempted to take several Titantic-posed photos, but nothing turned out as we hoped.


Unfortunately, we never met any of the Impractical Jokers either.  Bummer…

On my last day, Katy, my aunt Jenn, and I visited Brooklyn again; there was a market going on and we decided to check it out.  It was a beautiful day, thus making it even MORE difficult to say goodbye to the city and my family.


NYC? 10/10 would recommend.  I have visited the Big Apple three times now, and each time has been incredible (my rating would have been a 17/10 if I could’ve met Murr, Joe, Sal, or Q)!!

California Dreaming

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I seriously need to post more!! But it’s better late than never I guess! 

Last Thursday – yesterday, I traveled from Detroit, MI to San Jose, CA. I visited two friends who I met while volunteering abroad, and another friend who I met in Sweden last year through study abroad. 


To start, my friend Kaila picked me up from the airport with her roommate, Anthony. We got drinks for happy hour on the water, and I ran into the freezing Pacific Ocean (I only had one drink mind you)! 


Visiting San Francisco and exploring by myself on Friday afternoon was full of fun, hipster vibes, and amazing Mexican food! 


The following day Kaila drove us to Felton, where we hiked in a redwood park, met some hippies, and snuck into a music festival with them! It was an interesting day to say the very least… 


I was able to grab dinner with another friend who I met in Thailand, Wendy. We reminisced about our time abroad with some Thai cuisine in Mountain View. 


Lastly, I spent the day with my friend who just moved to SF, Ali. She’s originally from Montana, so we had fun wine tasting in Napa for the first time! 


I had a wonderful time with friends in Cali, and I can’t wait to go back someday! 

The Luxurious Side of Thailand

/ Cate Tracey / 2 Comments

While volunteering at an orphanage in Chiang Rai, Thailand this April and May, I lived in village-like conditions. With that said, I was able to travel during weekends because our foundation did not allow volunteers to stay in the grounds in order to clean, etc.

I visited downtown Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok during my weekends off. Below are some of my favorite photos of my “vacay time,” which was full of affordable three-course meals, rooftop bars and pools, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences! 

An Old City with a New Friend

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As I grow older, my friend circle dwindles down and becomes more tight-knit. This may sound like a bad thing, and at first I thought it was, but I get it now. 

I am blessed to have great, close friends in my life who I would do anything for and vice versa.


One of those friends is someone who I met in Sweden. Bethany and I visited each other in Chicago two months ago – I will always cherish our weekend together, full of exchanging study abroad memories, sore feet from walking everywhere, and acknowledging newfound inside jokes! 


It was also special because I have been to Chicago several times (many of my favorite childhood memories are from Chi-town) and Bethany had never been there prior to this summer. I was able to show her my favorite places, as well as experience new bars and clubs together! 


Bethany, I’m not sure if you’ll see this anytime soon, but thanks for being a gem of a friend! I’m beyond thankful to have met you in Sweden! 


 Cheers to more adventures together! 

Askøy & Bergen, Norway (Part II)

/ Cate Tracey / 1 Comment

At the beginning of 2018, I hope to go on a trip to Europe with my brother.  He will graduate college in December of this year and has never gone to Europe, so I figure this would be the perfect gift for him (expensive, yes, but perfect…) 🙂

And if that doesn’t work out, then my mom is willing to take his place!

Until my next adventure in Europe, I can look back on the past and cherish the memories I have already made as I excitedly plan on making some new ones in the near future 🙂

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I hope you all have a great Monday and a great week ahead of you! 🙂

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, Chiang Mai 

/ Cate Tracey / 3 Comments

This weekend, I participated in something extremely spiritual and heartwarming. I visited an elephant sanctuary with my friends from the Mirror Foundation. Mind you, we didn’t ride the elephants, nor do we condone that behavior; however, we fed and bathed them! 
Riding elephants, no matter how “well cared for” they are, is awful. It’s an exploitation of Thai culture, as well as a form of animal cruelty that I won’t even get into. The bottom line is this: always educate yourself on animal treatment, as well as cultural acceptances, when researching zoos and animal sanctuaries!!! 
The experience was incredible. A songtaew picked us up from our hotel in Chiang Mai, where we met three Swedish girls. I recognized the Swedish instantly, and it turns out they lived in Kalmar, where I lived for five months! Small world! 
When we arrived, we immediately changed into matching shirts to wear over our clothes. We had an educational lesson about elephant sanctuaries, which ones are proper, and how to feed/behave around the elephants. 
Feeding them was beyond what I thought it could be. They didn’t even need the bananas to be peeled for them; the only one who did was the seven month-old male named Ronaldo! How cute!!! We held the bananas behind our backs and fed them one by one. I absolutely loved the experience, even if my hands became muddy from their thick tongues! 
Throwing mud at the elephants seemed like an odd task, but we all had so much fun getting messy and the elephants were enjoying themselves! Bathing them off with buckets of water was probably my favorite part, because we could really get up close and personal with the elephants. 
My words and photos don’t do the experience justice. Visit the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary if you’re ever in Chiang Mai! 

Volunteering Abroad: Life in Thailand

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I’ve been here since April 17, and I can already tell you that my life has changed for the better.

I’m living in a camp/”commune” like setup.  I have been living in a room with a mosquito net above my bed, have been taking cold bucket showers, and have been eating a low-protein, high-carb diet (opposite from home given that I’m a celiac). 

This experience has been humbling, and to say that is an understatement. 

I am currently teaching English at a local orphanage. The children are so grateful to have us there, teaching them and playing with them of course. I have always wanted to adopt children, and my time here has shown me that I’m meant to do this one day. 

I will be volunteering until May 13, and I am beyond thankful that I have made this decision. I will aim to not take things for granted when I come home on May 21. I want to live like the villagers here: having less and making the most out of life (always having smiles on their faces)! 

Chiang Rai, Thailand 

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I have been struggling these past few months, post-graduation. I had been through the ringer with job applications, interviews, and other miscellaneous drama that needs no further explanation. Rather than sulking and doing the same things day in and day out, I decided spur-of-the-moment to volunteer abroad.

I have been living in a “commune-like” setting in a village in northern Thailand. This experience is very much different than home: cold bucket showers, mosquito bites like no other, and copious amounts of sweat. 

When you think of Thailand, you think of beaches and tourist destinations, right? But take a moment to consider the poorer side of the nation; I have been teaching in an orphanage and playing with young village children, who barely know English at all. Thailand is more than tourism: it has personality and it truly is “the land of smiles.”

Thank you to all of my friends and family who supported, and continue to support, me through these major life decisions! 

Message of the day: always be grateful for what you have. There are others who have less than you, but may be more likely to give more because of it!