WELCOME TO
CAT'S NINE LIVES
Hey there! I’m Cat, and I want to help you travel better.
Cat's Nine Lives is me sharing everything I can about the places I visit. I want you to be able to get the most out of a destination, no matter whether you're there for 2 weeks or 2 months.
What you'll find here are the places I've explored, the trails I've wandered and the people I've met along the way. I believe in supporting local, travelling responsibly, and creating memories to last a lifetime.
Ever hear the saying “curiosity killed the cat”? Well, that’s simply not true of this Cat! I encourage everyone to approach the world with an endless curiosity and an appetite for knowledge.
I want to help you see the world through fresh eyes. Whether it’s through my photography, writing or weirdly sarcastic sense of humour, I hope that you find some inspiration here to start your own life of adventure.
What’s my story?
British born, I’ve always been a restless soul. I never feel more at home than when I’m surrounded by new sights and smells, an unfamiliar road unrolling before me.
Windows down. Music loud. The wind in my hair.
I’ve got a tragically long list of road trip songs, and I’m always searching for a journey long enough to listen to them all. Oh, how I love road trips.
Despite my itchy feet, I entered the professional world and headed to medical school. For one memorable week in my third year summer holidays, I drove the steep, hairpin mountain roads of the south of France.
Princess dreams came to life while exploring hidden ruins. In tiny market towns I bought juicy figs the size of my fist. I gorged on crisp baguettes topped with creamy brie; a feast for the senses. I fell in love with the unknown.
I’d been a doctor for two years when my need to wander caught up with me again.
I moved to the other side of the world and made New Zealand my new adventure. It became the place where I fell in love with silence and the great outdoors. The country that inspired me to pick up a camera so that I would never forget the way that the sun looked as it set over the Pacific or the unbelievable blue of the sea on a cloudless summer day.
In New Zealand, I was never more than twenty minutes from the water. I learned to surf and got used to walking everywhere barefoot. My skin smelled like saltwater and sunshine.
I never went back to London.
Who is Cat’s Nine Lives for?
The adventurous traveller who seeks out the best that a destination has to offer.
The inexperienced traveller who wants tried and tested itineraries to follow.
The responsible traveller who knows that local communities know best.
The knowledgeable traveller who wants to see a new side of an old favourite.
It's for you
Why Cat’s Nine Lives?
Easy. My name is Cat, and I’ve had a lot of lives. I’ve been a student, a teacher, a musician, a surgeon, a hairdresser, a bar manager and a waitress.
Through it all, I’ve been a traveller and a storyteller. I’ve watched the sun rise over desert sands and frozen mountains. I’ve seen the sun set on smiling faces and weathered hands.
I took tentative steps out onto the open road, into a new life, and the world took me in.
And, honestly, I just really love the pun.
What will you find here?
Cat’s Nine Lives is more than a travel blog. It’s how I get stories out into the world - yours and mine.
The world can seem like a very scary place from the safety of your home. It’s not until you’re out there, walking unfamiliar streets, that you realise we all want the same things. To be understood. To feel less alone. Less afraid. To be part of something bigger.
A smile is my favourite conversation.
There’s always someone willing to open their hearts and their homes to you, no matter what country you’re in or what language you have in common. My goal is to help you find the places that make your soul sing, the experiences that leave you breathless, and the people who make you feel like you’re home.
I believe in responsible travel. Experiences that empower local communities and embrace the ethics of sustainable development.
It’s about so much more than just bringing a reusable water bottle and saying no to straws.
Travel broadens the mind like nothing else. It’s hard to ignore the realities of climate change when you’re standing in the ocean where a village used to be. Harder still to ignore the privilege of having the opportunity to travel in the first place.
In this internet age, it can be easy to be seduced into thinking that travel is about getting an Instagram-worthy shot, but it’s so much more than that.
Travel is about people, new ideas and the mystery of faraway places.
HOW WE CAN
TRAVEL BETTER
want to
get in touch?
If you want to follow along with my travels then you can join me on social media.
I'd love to see you there!
Have something specific that you want to ask? Send me an email at hello@catsninelives.com or contact me here.
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