Catch Me If You Can

Hello friends! This post is about two weeks late because August has got me all over the place. While my original plan was to stay in each place for about a month at a time at least, volunteer/work, meet people, and get my own space... August was quite difficult to do so since it is holiday month throughout the region. Organizations shut down for the month and a lot of businesses close. For this month, I am just traveling and moving around a lot through the Balkans and on my way to Turkey and Jordan. While I'm enjoying getting to see so many new places, often times it can be pretty exhausting and has definitely kept me busy and always on the go. ___________________________________________________________________________ July recap: If you read my previous post, you'd know I was still in Morocco but moved from Marrakech to up north working on an archaeological survey project. We spent the week days hiking through valleys and hills in the region in predetermined transects we...

Hello Friends, Currently I'm sitting in my apartment in Northern Morocco where I have just relocated to for the next month. It's been almost a week here in my new spot and I'm just getting settled. I'm finally having some down time to unpack my things for the next month, do some laundry, get WiFi set up, relax, be a person, you know. _________________________________________________________________________________ Here's a recap on my last month living in Marrakech: While my time in Marrakech was brief, I definitely think I made the most of my time there. Despite it being Ramadan, and having a nearly full schedule between taking Arabic classes each morning and working at the non profit right after Monday thru Friday, I did a lot. Jema El-Fnaa Square in Marrakech -Ramadan was a new experience for me. This year it took place between May 14th and June 14th (It changes every year, moving 14 days earlier each time). I'd never been in a Mu...

I’ve been traveling for a little over a month now and I’m finally getting settled. The first month was much more chaotic than I had anticipated. My first stop was Italy. I had flown from Seattle to Milan to visit my host family that I lived with from high school. Each time I visit them is always a heartwarming experience since I consider them real family. I’m lucky that I have gotten to visit them and see them as much as I have (5 times now including this trip) since I lived with them eight years ago.  Host family selfie (missing my other host sister, Ari) at Duomo in Milan Spending time with my Italian family is always like I never left. I have my room, I take naps on the couch with my orange blanket, I watch the news with my host dad, I help my host mom in the kitchen, I see my host sisters when I can, I bike around my village, I visit family friends and friends from school, and I eat a lotttt. My heart and tummy are so full every time I revisit. _______________________...

Hello! My name is Rachael. I was born and raised mostly in Seattle, Washington (having lived in Oregon for university, and studied abroad in Northern Italy, Peru, and Morocco before). I spent the past 1.5-2 years living and working in Seattle with two goals; to pay off all my student debt, and save money to travel the world. I just quit my job at the end of April and this past weekend marked one month of being on the road.  I have been traveling on my own since I was 16 when I moved to Italy. Some of my interests include languages (Currently only speak English and Italian, but am working on Spanish, French, Mandarin and Arabic), environment, cultures, archaeology, global affairs, geography, history, food, dancing, hiking and the outdoors. I plan to travel for at least a year, but we’ll see where things take me. I was originally going to keep a journal, but I realized it would be far from convenient to lug around multiple journals with me on this kind of journey. Anyhow, the pur...