Chasing Happy Guest Post

Hi Chasing Happy readers!  I'm so excited to be guest posting here today!  I’m Casey from True Colours, a travel blog that encompasses my passion for seeing the world and documenting my trips and tips for everyone with a little wanderlust in their hearts!  I do a lot of traveling, both for work and for pleasure, and in my travels, I've realized over the years that the world has a unique way of inspiring us.  For me, there is nothing that makes me happier or inspires me more than setting foot on a plane headed somewhere foreign, somewhere to intoxicate my senses, somewhere to pull me in with color and with beauty.  Being an Interior Designer by trade, I'm always open to new inspirations, new things to catch my attention and my travels have kept me inspired and feeling full of imagination over the years.  

So the next time you're looking for inspiration, for something to spur on your creativity, travel can offer each of us so much. From the spice markets of Marrakech to the old world buildings of Paris to the busy and rushed streets of London, the world is full of inspiration.  I've come up with a few different ways to spur on your creativity when you need it next, with inspiration from the world around us.  You don't even need to jump on a plane to experience it, although if you're like me, that would be my first choice!

1.  There is constantly inspiration around us but we often don't see it because we are so busy rushing around.  Color in our world is something that can be incredibly inspiring, taking in colors of buildings, colors of nature, it's really all around us all the time.  Whether you're taking in the orange brick of London buildings or a beautiful flowering tree in your backyard, color can inspire us tremendously if we only take the time to look for it.

2.  Our senses have a way of opening up our imaginations, whether you're walking through a spice market in Marrakech or smelling a fresh baked loaf of bread.  Let your senses open on on their own to the world around us and let your senses guide you.

3.  As humans, we tend to get in our bubbles and forget the world around us but as soon as you are able to open your mind and really see the world we live in, a whole new world of possibilities are open to us.  Whether that means listening to a different view point or wandering the streets of a new country, understanding how other people live and opening your mind to things you might not understand can be incredibly freeing and inspirational.

4.  Sometimes in order to really see what's in front of us, we need to take a step back and see the bigger picture.  Often times when we're looking for inspiration, we're too close to it to really see it.  When you step back, take in the larger picture around you, that's often times where inspiration will take over.  Whether that means you take in the views of Oahu from the top of a cliff or simply take a step back from a project you've been working on, often times it's when you take a step back you'll really see what you need.

5.  At the end of the day, no matter where you search for inspiration and no matter what your imagination is craving, it's the moment when you can really imagine the possibilities when you know you've found inspiration.  Our world is a blank canvas to draw from and when we can really draw our energy and our inspiration from the planet we call home, we'll be able to imagine an entire new world of possibilities. 

Defining Moments around the World

Hi! I'm so excited to be guest posting on Found Love. Now What? today!  I've been an avid reader of Belinda's blog since the beginning and had the lovely chance to meet up with her in Dublin a couple weeks ago.  I felt like we could sit and talk for hours and I've added Wales to my long list of travel destinations in the coming years after seeing her gorgeous pictures of the area.

Anyways, I’m Casey from True Colours, a travel blog that encompasses my passion for seeing the world and documenting my trips and tips for everyone with a little wanderlust in their hearts!  I do a lot of traveling, both for work and for pleasure, and throughout each trip, I always come out the other end with a lesson, with something that stopped me in my tracks and taught me something important.  I've had some pretty defining moments around the world, moments that changed the course of my life, moments that took my breath away, and moments that changed me within my soul.  Travel has a way of teaching us in ways that perhaps nothing else can; it makes us look at our world and find within us the strength to find our own place within it. 

I've had the pleasure and opportunity to see many different places in the world and each of the places I've traveled has brought with it lessons, moments and memories.  Though a few destinations have stood out among the rest for various reasons, whether it be lessons I've learned, places I've fallen in love with, or locations that pull from my heritage, each of them has defined me in ways that sometimes I don't even realize until after I'm home.  Each of these places has defined me in different ways but at the end of the day, it has been the culmination of my travels that has shaped me into who I am and I know that as I continue to travel, our beautiful world will only continue to shape and change me and I look forward to that.

I spent a couple years living in Hawaii for work and during that time my husband, Nick, stayed at our home in Portland for a number of reasons.  Long story short, we did long distance for a while and it was a very trying time.  While Hawaii wasn't for me in the end, it is still a place that holds great meaning for me because it was my time there that gave me the much needed perspective I had been missing previously.  I woke up to this view everyday living there and while I was often in awe of the beauty of "Paradise," Hawaii showed me definitively that the life I wanted wasn't on the Islands, it was at home with my husband, in a place with rain and gray clouds.  And even though Hawaii might be paradise to some, I realized that it wasn't mine.

During my time in Hawaii, I was making regular trips to Seoul, South Korea for work.  My time in Seoul was eye opening and touched me deeply.  I fell in love with Korea, with traveling, with different cultures.  It was my time in Seoul that defined the traveler I have become.  Seoul was the first international destination I had traveled to since moving back to the States when I was 12 from the Middle East (more on that here if you're interested) and it was in Seoul that I spent a good deal of time soul-searching (pun intended).  The South Korean capital helped me find myself again and it was there that my whole life changed direction.

I just recently returned from Ireland in the last couple weeks and to say that Ireland was a defining place for me would be an understatement.  I'm very Irish, with close family still living there and my whole life I've heard stories about the country.  To see it finally with my own eyes, to breathe it in, to find myself in love with it changed me.  I saw my heritage, I felt it and I felt right at home, as cliche as that sounds.  Ireland for me was a new love, a place I always held within me but now it's really there, now it's in my soul.

After growing up in the Middle East, I desperately missed the Arab culture when we returned to the States.  It was my first trip back to a Muslim country when I visited Morocco a couple years ago that I felt a deep reminiscence for my Arab roots.  But perhaps the most defining moment for me in Morocco was having my hands done in Henna.  The woman that did it for me did one hand in the traditional Saudi designs and the other in the traditional Moroccan themes, which for me was such a beautiful reminder of who I am, a mix of cultures, a mix of countries, a mix of places all over the world.

And this list wouldn't be complete without my time in Paris as some of the most defining moments I've had while traveling.  If you follow my blog at all, you know I adore Paris.  The City of Lights for me is a place that I just "fit," that inspires me, that is my home away from home.  I try to make it to Paris at least once a year, but perhaps in all the trips there, the most defining was my first trip back as an adult with my husband on our honeymoon.  I watched him fall as in love with Paris as I did and together, we've found a place that will always be "our place."  

Traveling is a way to not only expand our horizons but a way to help our lives progress.  For me, I've experienced these and so many more moments around the world that have shaped the path of my life, that have shown me incredible experiences and in the end, have defined for me how small our world really is and that we really are all the same, searching for our place in this beautiful world we call home.

Child of the World

Hi Tiny Toes and Tuk Tuk readers! I’m Casey from True Colours, a travel blog that encompasses my passion for seeing the world and documenting my trips and travel tips for everyone with a little wanderlust in their hearts!  I do a lot of traveling, both for work and for pleasure but it was my childhood overseas that installed my passion for travel in my heart.  I'm so excited to be guest posting here today as this is a topic that Erika knows about well.

I grew up as an expat kid in the Middle East and as a Third Culture Kid, I spent many years trying to figure out my place in the world.  I have written a few different posts about my experiences as a TCK on my blog if you're interested, but my goal when writing about my experiences is always to take down the veil on expat kids, to help others understand what we go through, to help parents raise Third Culture Kids and for the TCK's themselves to know that while the road isn't easy, it's beyond extraordinary.  

As Erika knows, raising a Third Culture Kid can be difficult.  I myself, lived through it.  I spent a good 10 years of my life through my teenage years searching the world for a place to call home, and even while I had a steady suburban American home as a teenager, something was constantly missing.  No one around me understood what I felt, that I had lost a piece of me when we returned to the States, that the typical American life wasn't what I wanted or needed.  It was those years searching for what "home" truly meant to me that propelled me forward to take charge of how I wanted to live my life after college.  It was those years that I realized that I didn't want my adult life to be narrowed down by the typical standards of American society.  I wanted to travel again, I wanted to spend time around the world, I wanted to place myself as a child of the world, with no particular country or allegiance, but a person working to see new places and experience life in so many different cultures.

Now, when I look back, I see how much my expat years and my background as a Third Culture Kid have shaped me.  I am American, but I'm also a little bit Arab, along with a little bit French, a little bit English and all those other cultures that have shaped over the years.  Each place I visit, each country that calls my name, becomes a part of me now.  And in the end, I've realized that being a Third Culture Kid isn't a burden, it's a blessing.  I hold on to places more than those that aren't TCK's because I've learned over the years that places can really shape you, they can hold you when nothing else can and places can make a real mark upon your soul.  For me, I've had life changing experiences around the globe, moments when I take in a place and realize that it's because of my background, it's because of the years and years of searching for my place in the world, that now I can take it all in, now I can appreciate each place and hold it within me.  I've found after years of searching that one place to call home for me is not enough and at the end of the day, I'd most certainly rather be a child of the world, seeing new places and finding a little bit of home in each of them.

What I’ve Learned from Travel this Year

Hi Living in Another Language readers!  I'm so excited to be guest posting here today!  I’m Casey from True Colours, a travel blog that encompasses my passion for seeing the world and documenting my trips and tips for everyone with a little wanderlust in their hearts!  I do a lot of traveling, both for work and for pleasure, and throughout each trip, I always come out the other end with a lesson, with something that stopped me in my tracks and taught me something important.  Sometimes those things are as small as learning something new about a country, or finding a new lovely spot close to home.  Other times though, the lessons are larger, the feelings deeper and I come away from my travels changed from how I started.  Travel has a way of teaching us in ways that perhaps nothing else can; it makes us look at our world and ask the tough questions as we wander through it.  Travel for me always teaches a lesson, no matter how far you go or what the destination may be, it’s the lessons from my travels that keep me coming back for more.

This year alone, my travels have taken me near and far, changed me, opened my eyes and challenged me in ways that previous travels had not.  So today, these are the most important lessons I’ve learned from my travels this past year.  Some of the destinations near, some of them far away, but in each place, a new lesson was learned and something new inside of me awakened.

ITALY

This past March, my husband and I went on a family trip with my in-laws through France and Italy.  Among other lessons, one of the most important I took away from this trip was that it’s okay to not like a destination.  I’ve been through Italy twice now, and have traveled through Rome, Milan and Verona and while I know there is so much more to Italy than those 3 cities, I can’t say that I love Italy.  I’ve realized this year, that that is totally ok.  We all have places that we like and dislike and there is nothing wrong with voicing our opinions.  I happen to adore Paris, but I know many people don’t, so when you find a place you don’t really love, know that that is all part of the journey and that travel doesn’t always necessarily mean falling in love with your destination.

NICE, FRANCE

On that same trip in March, I also realized the power of taking in a place on your own.  I was surrounded by people the whole trip and by the time we arrived in Nice, our final destination, I needed some time with France just on my own.  France is my favorite country in the world for numerous different reasons, but I realized during that trip that I hadn’t appreciated being there because we were so busy showing family around and moving from monument to monument.  I wasn’t enjoying “my France,” and it suddenly hit me in Nice, that all I wanted to do was spend an afternoon wandering around Nice on my own, taking it all in and enjoying the moment.  After all, what is travel without the ability to take a moment out of time and space and just take in your surroundings?

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

In May of this past year, my husband and I took took a long weekend and drove through New England, from Maine down through Rhode Island.  I had our itinerary planned with the stops we wanted to make, places we wanted to see along the way and the places I thought, from research, we’d love.  Turns out, the place that stole our heart and we loved the most was little Newport, Rhode Island, a stop we weren’t even sure we should make.  The lesson we learned was that some of the places you encounter might not be planned, but they will make an impact.  Travel is all about impact, it’s all about finding those gems in the world that you fall in love with and Newport for me, was just that place.  Sometimes you’ll happen across a place that really will take your breath away.

PARIS

While I love Paris dearly and I try to make yearly trips to the City of Light, I took my first solo trip there this past Summer.  Technically it was a work trip, but even so, I spent days wandering around London and Paris without my husband and realized that no place really is the same without the person you love.  Nick and I have a deep love affair with Paris, and it’s sort of “our city.”  So being there without him (even though this wasn’t my first time traveling internationally alone), just felt wrong.  I realized there that no matter where you are in the world, it really does matter who is beside you.  Personally, Nick is my favorite travel companion and I’d rather travel with him than by myself.  This particular trip taught me a very valuable lesson for the future, travel is just travel unless you make it special, and for me, special is being with my husband.

NAPA

In October, Nick and I ventured down to Napa for the weekend.  Coming from Oregon, it was a quick trip and we had planned to celebrate my birthday while there as well.  But Friday afternoon about 2 hours prior to leaving, I was so worn down from a crazy few weeks that I almost canceled our trip to spend the weekend recuperating in my own bed.  In the end, Nick talked me in to going and I’m so glad for it.  The Napa area was stunning and there were so many moments during our time there that I looked around me and wondered how I could ever give this up.  Travel is exhausting, life is exhausting, but when you make the time and the effort to travel, you realize that the world is a truly beautiful place and seeing those gorgeous destinations (and the not so gorgeous ones), it is always worth the effort you put in. 

Travel is one lesson after another and personally, I hope I never stop learning from my adventures.  The world has a way of showing us what really matters and with each trip, with each adventure that comes, I know I’ll walk away a better person than before.  I hope  you’ll head over and follow along on my next adventures on True Colours!  I’ve got some great ones on the horizon!  

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Hi Living in Another Language readers!  I'm Casey and I blog over at True Colours, documenting my love of travel and all things Paris.  My husband, Nick and I do a lot of traveling for work and for fun and while I'm writing about our adventures, he's documenting them with gorgeous photos, many of which I share on the blog.

I'm so excited to be here today guest posting for Amanda, whose blog I recently found and have fallen in love with.  So thanks for having me!

I've traveled to a lot of places and many have touched me deeply, but perhaps one place very close to home for Amanda that's been a big part of my life is South Korea.  I work for a company that has an office in Seoul and I've visited many times for work.  In that time, I fell in love with the Korean people, with the lovely city of Seoul and the gorgeous landscape that South Korea offers.

For me, Korea was a place of self discovery.  I happened to travel there numerous times while in my early twenties, a time when I happened to be in a long distance relationship (with Nick who became my husband), and at a time in my life when many things were in flux.  Korea taught me so many things and my time there will always be a treasured memory, but perhaps the most important thing it showed me during my time there was love.  I was welcomed so lovingly into the Korean culture, treated with so much respect and felt totally comfortable and safe.

I've said before that Seoul helped heal my soul, pun intended, in a time when I needed it most and Korea for me was and is a place of deep connection, a country that is beautiful inside and out.  So today, since this is so appropriate here on Living in Another Language, is my ode to Korea, a place that changed me and helped me find myself along my journey around our world.

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Hey MishLovinLife followers!  I'm Casey from True Colours and I'm so excited to be guest posting over here today!  My blog follows my husband and I as we travel and enjoy our beautiful world.  We just got back from Iceland yesterday, were in New York City earlier this month and heading to New Orleans in December, so needless to say, we've been all over recently!  

I'm posting all week on True Colours about our Iceland trip (and you can read up on all the other fabulous places we've been & check out my travel guides) but here's a few of my favorite things about our last couple trips to Iceland and New York.

What I Loved About New York City:

1) The energy this city has is intoxicating.  It sort of swoops you up and makes you fall in love with it.

2) The West Village, DUMBO in Brooklyn and the Flat Iron area were my favorite sections of the city by far.  I loved the laid back village feel in the West Village, the cool hipster vibe in Brooklyn and the city-chic feel of the Flat Iron area.

3) The food in NYC is incredible.  Being from Portland, we're pretty "foodie" people up here in the Pacific NW and we were not disappointed.  My favorite meals were at Pastis (French) and Boqueria (Spanish).  We got our fill of incredible food during our trip.

What I Loved About Iceland:

1) The pure untouched landscapes were unspeakable in Iceland.  We spent a whole day with just a guide out exploring and there were so many moments when my breath was literally taken away.  The exotic beauty of the land is truly incredible.

2) The Icelandic horses were my favorite part of the whole trip.  Horses are everywhere in Iceland and on a road out in the middle of nowhere, we pulled over and walked up to the fence, of which all the horses came up to us and we were suddenly surrounded by all these gorgeous horses.  Without another person within miles of us, it was one of those moments you always remember.

3) The colors in the sky in Iceland are incredible and because this time of year they only get about 5 hours of daylight, the sky all day has a painted quality with the sun never truly rising in the sky.  We saw some of the most spectacular colors in the sky from pale blues to purples and rich pinks... every day the sky blew me away.

Photos copyright to True Colours Blog

Hi!  I’m Casey from True Colours back here again at Glocal Girl for Part 2 of my Travel Tips series guest post.

You can see the first post here.


My first 5 tips were mainly things to do when you’re traveling, but I thought to finish off I’d do the top 5 things I’ve learned over the years to do before you even step on the plane.  So here, in no particular order, are some tips on how to prepare for a fantastic trip you’ll always remember.

1    1.  Start hotel research early.

When it comes to travel, you can’t be too organized beforehand. For hotels, I start at Tablet Hotels or Splendia for research though I don’t book through these sites.   My husband and I like boutique hotels, so these websites are great to narrow down the search.  Once I’ve looked up its reviews on TripAdvisor and decide on a hotel, I book on Hotels.com.  I’ve been a Hotels.com member for a while now and after 10 nights booked through them, you get a free night up to $350!  I’ve gotten so many free nights now, that I just keep going back.

2    2.  Order Metro passes and Museum passes ahead of time.
        I’ve done this on many trips abroad and in the States and it’s always worth it. Conciergerie does this for Paris and they can deliver to your home or leave your package at your hotel.  It’s convenient and you don’t have to deal with trying to buy tickets in a foreign language or waiting in long lines.

         
        3.  Take advantage of technology and set it up before you go.

When we travel, we don’t take computers anymore, just our phones and iPads.  There are so many great travel apps, but here are some of my favorites that I always set up and make sure are working and updated before I leave home:

            -Facetime (to do video chats on your iPhone or iPad over WiFi)

            -TextNow (free text messaging anywhere on WiFi)

            -Google Voice (to call home for free)

            -Flight Track Pro (hands down the best airline tracker there is)
            -MileBlaster (to keep track of all your mileage programs)

             
4.  Know your transportation options.
For whatever airport I’m flying into, I find out beforehand how to get where I’m headed.  It’s important to know the different transportation options so that when you get there, you don’t have to stress about it. I’m a big fan of public transportation over cabs in Europe as they usually have great trains/metros into the cities are inexpensive and quick.

Taking the Tube in London

5.      Pack a few days before you’re going to leave.
This one is hard for a lot of people but you’ll be much more organized and less stressed if you schedule time in advance to finish packing.  Make sure everything is clean and folded nicely, then the day of, you can start your vacation knowing that everything is packed and there is no last minute stress.

Bon Voyage!

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Hey everyone, I’m Casey from True Colours over here guest posting today while Sienna is off traveling!
I grew up in the Middle East and got to travel a lot as a kid, though most of my favorite places that I’ve been have been ones that my husband and I have been able to see together. So here, in no particular order are my favorite places in the world (so far) and a few great things about each one.

1.  Paris
My all time favorite city in the world for so many reasons, but the first being that no where in the world makes me feel so much like myself than Paris. Whether I’m staying in the Opera area at Hotel Jules or wandering the streets of St. Germain on the Left Bank and staying at Le Notre Dame Hotel, Paris is always the perfect getaway.

2.  Seoul
This was one of those places I never had a real interest in going to, but after I started working for a company with an office there, I have traveled there many times. A beautiful city and a gorgeous and welcoming country… check out Itaewon and Myeong-dong for shopping, you really can do no wrong.

3.  London
Ah, London. Such a fantastic city and I definitely see myself living here at some point in my life. The history, the architecture, the rain (which I love) and the accents… whether you’re shopping on the high street or grabbing lunch at your local pub, what’s not to love about London?

4.  Marrakech
This ancient city is a gorgeous mix of history, from the mosques to the souks to the desert and mountains that surround it. You could walk the tiny alleys here for hours and between lanterns, scarves, jewelry and spices, you can buy almost anything if you’re willing to haggle for it. Marrakech is a lovely mix of Africa, the Middle East and Europe and all with its own little twist too.

5.  Portland

My home now in Portland, Oregon ends my list of my favorite places in the world. As a very “European” American city, Portland is forever green, always vibrant and oh so beautiful. From the Pearl District to the Waterfront, Portland is fabulous in rain or shine.

  Photos copyright Nick Nieto & myself