from the arctic to the desert 🧊☀️
chapter 32: a month of extremes, + come with me to india to celebrate holi in march!
Hello my travel-loving corner of the internet :)
I’m writing this monthly travel summary en route to the Sahara desert, in between much-needed power naps to catch up from days of heat exhaustion under the nearly 100°F Moroccan sun.
I’m here leading my 17th group trip in the past two years (!!) — and it feels surreal to say that my number one fan (shoutout Mari ily) who had never met me but then read my book, and joined my Mexico group trip in February 2023, is now on her 5th one of my group trips, and even brought her mom along with her this time to experience the magic of a “you are where Caitlyn goes” trip :’)
In fact, everyone on this group trip has visited a foreign country with me before, which has never happened in a prior group… I can’t properly describe how deeply honored I am that people trust me with their limited vacation time and hard-earned money to keep traveling via my meticulously planned itineraries again and again. I’ll keep organizing and running group trips as often as I can during this chapter of my life, to keep sharing the magic of unique adventures abroad and new friendships through travel as much as possible!
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Just a few days ago, I was surfing the longest wave in Africa in the tiny Moroccan surf town of Imsouane, and felt so proud of myself for persevering and not giving up on surfing as a hobby. After 3 years of surfing on and off, I finally feel confident and can ride a wave for a whole minute if the conditions are right!
I’ve tried to surf as often on my travels as I can - in the Mexican surf towns of Cabo and Sayulita, Arctic Norway, Costa Rica, Hawaii, and now Morocco. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been so frustrated that I wanted to swear off surfing entirely… but now it feels good to be where I am today and appreciate how much I’ve progressed. So take this as a reminder to keep trying and never give up if you’re currently in the messy middle of learning a new skill or hobby!
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Prior to Morocco, I spent a few days this month reconnecting with friends in London. In particular, three convos with friends who moved, or are about to move, from the US to London were so energizing that I couldn’t stop smiling — when you and another person vibrate on the same frequency and simultaneously reject the typical paths of life to pursue adventure and novelty, it’s one of the most joyous feelings and the easiest way to form an instant deep bond.
I also set up a dinner to introduce friends from different social circles in London who all share a love of travel. We swapped travel stories and shared which upcoming bucket list adventures we have our eyes on, and joked that we’ll see each other again someday soon on a trip to Algeria. What kind of people even speak that sentence? My type of people!
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Also in the month of September (this single month felt like a year somehow), I led a group trip of 11 people in Iceland where we saw the northern lights so many times I actually started to lose count — the ideal outcome since that was the primary purpose of gathering a group to visit at this time of year around the solar activity peak of the fall equinox!
Seeing a group of people go from complete strangers to friends who will share inside jokes and bucket list memories for life is the reason why I create these group trips. This one in particular felt like a truly unique bond after sharing the stunning diversity of landscapes and natural phenomenon in Iceland, alongside the silliness and openness that marks true, bring-your-full-self friendships.
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And to arrive in Iceland just in time to lead my group trip, I actually got my passport stamped by an officer in a mobile border control car at the seaport for the first time ever. This was because I sailed from eastern Greenland to Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik over the course of 3 days, on a sailboat full of adventurous Russians, two Argentinian crew members, and me - the sole native English speaker. I could write pages and pages about this adventure of a lifetime spending 10 days living on a 25-person topsail schooner in a social situation well outside my comfort zone while exploring the most remote regions of Eastern Greenland — and it certainly will be a chapter in my next book! — but to put it simply: Greenland needs to be on your bucket list if it isn’t already. (And, I now have friends to visit in Siberia!)
Greenland is not technically a country (it’s a territory of Denmark), nor is it a new continent in the polar regions unlike Antarctica, so a lot of people skip over it entirely… but it’s a great example of why obsessing over your country count is not a great travel philosophy. I promise from personal experience that being in a glacial landscape far, far away from any other tourist gives an unparalleled otherworldly sense of awe that is worth every penny and every hour of the long journey to reach a location as remote as Greenland.
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In short, the past month since I last wrote to you has been filled with extremes: from sub-freezing temperatures and Arctic cold plunges to sweltering desert heat and surfing next to sun-soaked cliffs, from solo traveling to joining a group of (mostly Russian) strangers to connecting a group of former strangers who became one big new travel family on my group trip.
I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about each of the topics and places I mentioned above but for the sake of living in the moment - I’ll put my phone down and return to looking at the red and green landscape of rural Morocco as we speed towards the country’s largest dunes where we’ll sleep under the stars tonight.
But I’ll leave you with a quote from a recent conversation that really stuck with me:
“Some people want to buy a big house or expensive things. Other people like us want to buy a life of freedom and adventure. It’s a choice everyone makes for themselves.”
PS — if you’re looking to buy your way into a life of adventure, my next group trip (and maybe the only one for the next 6 months amidst a lot of solo travel!) is… India!!! 🇮🇳
Join me on March 7-16 to celebrate the joyous local holiday Holi, the festival of colors, as well as see the Taj Mahal and go on a safari to see tigers in their national habitat.
I’ve collaborated with my friend’s mother based in Delhi who has local connections to create an itinerary full of the bucket list spots as well as hidden gems and local off-the-brochure experiences. India is known to be a place that’s rather difficult to travel solo, considering things like food safety and standing out as foreigners (especially women), so I’m very happy to be able to organize a group trip that will include local guides and a private driver for upmost comfort and safety — so we can have no worries and simply focus on taking in the cultural richness of this incredible country, which I’ve long awaited for the perfect opportunity to visit and fully experience.
Some people have already signed up but we’ve got 7 spots left and they’re first come, first served — check out the itinerary linked below and feel free to reply to this email or message me on Instagram if you have any questions about the trip!
Hope to see you there so I can personally sprinkle you with the rainbow colored powders of Holi celebrations :)
PPS — I’m finally returning to the US for a few weeks! I’m in life maintenance mode - sorting out my storage unit, repacking suitcases, renewing my passport (I’m out of blank pages lol) and spending as much time as possible in person with family and friends before heading back out into the world for ~6 months straight of exploring Southern Africa, the Indian Ocean, and South Asia… if you’re in LA, SF, or NYC and want to reconnect, drop me a line and let’s find a time to meet in late October/early November!
As always! Enjoyed reading your newsletter.. keep them coming!