Hi! I’m Katrina, an expat American living in Ireland. Before Ireland, I lived in Italy for a few years.
TourAbsurd.com started out as a photoblog created in order to keep in touch with friends and family back in the U.S. It began when I took my first trip to Italy in the summer of 2007. I fell in love with the country and simply had to go back. Within 3 months of returning to the US, I gave away almost all of my belongings, packed what little was left, and hopped on a plane to start a new life overseas.
I checked two bags and carried on two more: a laptop case and a bag carrying my beloved puppy dog, a senior Bichon Frise. One of the senior kitties flew over a few months later. (The other one lived out her life in a luxury kitty spa, receiving the best of care until her passing. This was very sad, as she was supposed to join me in Italy.)
I made it my mission to visit an interesting place in Europe at least once a month for the first year. In doing so, I got a taste for travel that has fired up a nigh insatiable desire to keep moving!
Both of my beloved critters crossed the rainbow bridge within 2 years of arriving in Italy and are still greatly missed. I ended up leaving Italy and moving to Ireland. Currently I live in Cork city. I am fortunate to be owned by a rescue pup from Cork D.A.W.G. (dog action welfare group). Although I don’t updated it often, there are a number of photos of his adorable self on Instagram.
Adventures and observations about the absurdities and delights of life are my daily fare. Sharing this in blog form was a great way to keep in touch with all the family and friends I’ve made throughout the world. I secretly hope that by sharing the silliness I discover, I’ll be able to inspire people to travel and broaden their views of the world. Well, perhaps a section from this post says it best:
“Through my travel experiences, as well as being a member of Couchsurfing.org, I have come to see more and more of the good in people. For all of the ‘strangers’ I have invited into my house, the vast majority have been delightful, upbeat people who are out to improve themselves and the world. Likewise, the majority of the folks I have met while traveling have also been cheerful, helpful people who are simply living their lives in the best way they know how.
By posting pictures and stories of the things I have experienced overseas, I really want to contribute to peoples’ relationship to the rest of the citizens of the world. If you see that all the head-shaking silliness of marketing is a global phenomenon rather than a national one, for example, you just may chuckle and begin to realize that we are all in this together. ‘This’ being life.”
This is life. And this is also TourAbsurd!
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PS: this old TED talk sums up a lot of my feelings on the importance of laughter and play as a uniting force. Enjoy!