But I also believe that when something calls to you more than once, you should pay attention.

A few weeks ago, a friend texted about training for a triathlon. I hesitated because life felt too uncertain and too full. But then another friend mentioned the same race, and that second nudge was my sign. I texted back: LET’S DO THIS.

Tonight is our first practice swim.

This season has become one of training, but not just in the athletic sense. I’m training my body to show up again. Not to chase performance, but to meet the moment. I have run so many races that I’ve lost count and mastered yoga poses, but now I’m a beginner again, on purpose.

I’m also training others: leading weekly sessions for New York State school administrators on leadership, evaluation, and systems-level change. And while I’m holding space for their growth, I’m training myself in new ways, too — re-learning the terrain of social media, joining a new host agency for Charted (more to come on that!), and reorienting my voice in public.

This is the paradox of mastery: the more experienced you are, the more you understand how essential it is to stay teachable. I’ve been an educator for close to two decades, but I’m still (and always will be) a student.

Redefining My Voice Across Platforms

I posted a storytime on TikTok today that was raw, personal, and unexpectedly resonant. It was just me, sharing something real. But it hit me: that’s what TikTok is for! Maybe I don’t need everything in every place to be so polished and perfect.

For a while, I tried to keep it simple by sharing the same content across platforms. It made sense. I’m one person running a brand rooted in deep reflection, not churning content for algorithms. But lately, I’ve felt inclined to differentiate. To let each platform do what it’s best at, and to stop flattening my voice in the name of efficiency.

So here’s the new rhythm I’m testing:

• TikTok: Journal entries, storytimes, and (for fun) trends. The kind of raw, moment-in-motion posts that feel like voice memos to the collective.

• Instagram & Facebook: More crafted visuals — reels, quotes, info posts. The kind of content that’s easy to save, share, and revisit.

• Substack (here): Longer form. Opinion pieces, reflections, and strategy. The map-making layer — where I zoom out and make meaning.

All announcements will go everywhere — retreats, launches, offerings. But the tone and texture will shift depending on where you’re finding me.

This isn’t about playing the algorithm game better. It’s about being more honest with how I want to show up and where different versions of my voice feel most alive.

If you’ve been following me across platforms, thank you for riding the waves as I find my footing. I’m not interested in “building a brand” that drains my soul. I’m building a life that lets me speak, create meaningfully, and connect deeply, and Charted is the container for that.

So no, you won’t see the same post everywhere anymore. You’ll see what fits — where it fits.

And if that helps you claim a little more space for your creative sovereignty, even better!

If you ignore the cars buzzing on road separating [Schroon Lake] and [The Lodge at Schroon Lake], I swear you could feel like you are in the 1930s. It is classic Adirondack Style Camp. For those of you who don’t speak Upstate New York, and who might speak Disney, think of it like part Saratoga Springs Resort and part Wilderness Lodge. My son likens it to Camp Crystal Lake in the Friday the 13th series, an apt comparison if you have also read this year’s God of the Woods. He also assures me that this is a good thing.

The original Lodge, formerly called the Brown Swan Club, is now the property’s restaurant and focal point: The Brown Swan. This space is not what made us come back, though. We returned for the activities offered, and its location an easy, 1.5 hour drive from our home.

If you want to know more about the time, I have been posting about it over on Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok. Here, however, I wanted to write a bit more about the experience of traveling. I especially think family travel is an interesting thing, don’t you agree?

Family Travel

Do you know that in 2020, just a few weeks before COVID changed our lives forever, my husband and I had seriously been discussing selling it all, getting a family camper, and taking a “gap year” adventure across the country? We even had the route planned out. I had a business idea, too: The Wandering Classroom. The idea was to take my education knowledge and write curriculum based on all of the places we traveled to, aimed at homeschooling or “road-schooling” families. My business had a lifetime and legitimacy (thanks to COVID) that was shorter than Charted — and I have only been around since May! Maybe it would have been the perfect time to pack it up for a while, if I hadn’t been so darn terrified.

That said, I love family travel. Or perhaps you can say that family travel is my love language. I like to brag that the first time I flew NYC-SFO non-stop was when I was “5” (actually, 4, but my mom encouraged me to say five because that was the cut-off). I do not quite understand the looks of horror that little tidbit gets me, but people who traveled in the 70s and 80s usually nod as if to wistfully say, “ah, pre-2001.”

So perhaps the next two facts will not surprise you:

1. I get really upset (enraged) when people make comments about kids just existing in the world.

2. I consider my own experiences traveling the world as a child as among the most precious gifts my single mom could ever have given me, and I want to give that to my own kids.

These two facts are why I was taken back by the New Yorker article called “The Case Against Travel” that I read when I got up at a too-early-on-vacation time. I encourage you to read it, but it’s from 2023, so there have likely been many more intelligent people writing on this. Here is the premise: People think travel is life-changing, but it makes us change where we go more than it actually changes us. The article talks a lot about the ethical implications of this idea.

But it seems to me that the author, Agnes Collard, gets some parts right and some parts wrong.

Here is where I agree:

• Travel for the wrong reasons is definitely not going to make you into a better human.

• I will go even further and say that travel when done in an inauthentic way can actually deplete you, and have negative, rippling consequences to your travel party and wherever your little posse of pain “explores” (as if it hadn’t been found before. SEE: first paragraph).

I could say more, but you get the idea.

Here is where we differ, respectfully because I really did enjoy the piece:

• When a person travels to experience joy and pleasure with people, rather than in front of people, something magical can happen.

• There are self-preservation rules that must be observed. Compromise on a group vacation may be inevitable (you may even like it if you open your mind), but certain boundaries should not be crossed.

Joy is not a Show

I like to say that “I am the Same Age as Facebook,” but not because I was born in 2005, but because I am the same age as Mark Zukerberg and his weirdly, pokey new website, Facebook, was developed for college students when I was in college. Though I recently deleted my personal account, it was pretty epic that up until April I signed in with a defunct and utterly useless cer4@geneseo.edu.alumni (an account that never existed).

And because we are the same age, I can confidently assert that co-opting JOY is where social media has become the most toxic. Pressing record on the camera rather than soaking in a moment, we perform more than we perceive.

If we are to be changed by an experience, we must by definition EXPERIENCE it. We sit down in dirt, wiggle our toes in sand, run through grass, dive into water. Experience pushes our comfort zone just a bit the manufacturer settings of a monotonous life.

Living for Their Moment

It will come as a shock to some people who are less wise than others that everything does not revolve around them. In fact, maybe my favorite memories are when I was the stage hand to some one else’s main character moment. Like, when my husband got to try falconry when he turned 30, or when my daughter went to the Bippity Boppity Boutique at four years old, and upon finishing was invited by her fairy godmother to join in a princess parade? Knowing that I was the magic maker behind the pixie dust or what-have-you is more than half of the fun. What is better than watching someone you love, love something?

Boundaries Bring You Closer

This might be controversial as well, but I believe in open-minded but firm personal boundaries. If there is something that you know will ruin your time, if it triggers something in you that is physically or emotionally painful, you really have to tell your travel party. Stop pretending that this is “nice,” especially if you hold that air of annoyance if you acquiesce to the group’s demands.

Having personal boundaries means that you respect yourself. I like that in friends, and I bet you do, too. Probably the smartest thing I have heard lately, and excuse me for not quoting this but it’s at trope-level now, is, “The only people who are hurt by you having boundaries, are those who benefitted from you having none.” Mic. Drop.

I would argue that when you hide what makes you uncomfortable, we separate ourselves from the group (even if you physically go along). In this “other” mindset that we have designed, how can we ever let go and fully participate? There are a few things that I think can help you get over yourself if you’re feeling bitter like adrenaline-pumping activities or humor. Both put you so in-contact with that moment that it is hard to stay in your head. The only problem is that depending on what you have, even unwillingly, agreed to experience may or may not leave you feeling scared, sick, traumatized, broke — or the most fun, all four!

The bottom line is: if our friends, families, or colleagues love or even like us, they will not want you to be uncomfortable. That is to say, if your boundaries do not impede on their top moment.

Corollary: Your Boundaries Should Not Be Imposed on Others

(This is a tough one for parents because often children cannot go without an adult)

If at all possible, I think good boundaries are for you, and not for others. They draw the line in the sand and say, “hey, I can’t handle crowds today. I am going to (specific activity), but I will meet you back at (mutually agreed upon activity).”

Parents, as I wrote above, I feel you on this, and it is absolutely a challenge when you have traveled a long distance or already spent the money. This is also a big reason that I feel like choosing the right partner is so important, but I digress.

However, regardless of your traveling situation, you have to start from a place of authenticity and open-mindedness. This is what feels good for me. I want to have this kind of experience. If you have doubts, get them out in the air before the trip. Even if you are the aforementioned “magic maker,” don’t get so caught up in the “act” that you forget that nothing awesome can be created without the magician.

Which brings me to…

Not to make this a sales pitch, but that’s why I made Charted. I was tired of going away and blowing up. And we are not perfect, by any means. But we are better because we take time to think about what things will be like before we get there. I think the best times are when we discuss these things beforehand, but like I said, a work in progress.

I would love to know about a trip you are planning, or an experience you had while traveling that got you to your core. I have so many, and in no particular order, here are some of my favorites:

• Riding in a minivan across Scotland, France, and Germany with my mother and her friend, her friend’s husband, and their two teenage grandsons that could have been an alternate version of National Lampoon’s European Adventure (Big Ben! Parliment!)

• Watching my daughter talk to Alice at age four (told you I’d get here). She started telling her her life story and a line started to form up behind us. I, instinctively, said, “Okay, let’s go. There are people waiting now,” and Alice just patted my arm and said, “Oh, no, no, no. She must go on,” and it made my daughter beam.

• Dancing at the Full Moon Party with some of my best friends in Virgin Gorda (and a fire dancing singe himself in very questionable places).

• Taking a cruise with 20 friends from my senior class, where we almost did not get on the boat because half our party was 18 and the other half was 17. Again, cue wistful nostalgia mixed with a healthy dose of, “how did I survive?”

• Having a candlelit dinner on the beach on our honeymoon and feeling so grown up and brand new at the same time.

I would love for you to tell me yours, a dream that you have tucked away, or perhaps just a bunch of question marks and overwhelm that you are carrying. Let’s hear it.

From the Citi Field seats watching my daughter lose her mind over Stray Kids, to the Disney spreadsheet tabs I opened with total joy, to a coffee shop table where conversation flowed like I’d known the person for years.

Let’s start with the concert.

It was my daughter’s first — a full arena of (mostly) girls absolutely lit up, screaming, crying, singing, and living. It was peak girlhood in all the best ways. Watching her have that moment brought me right back to mine: seeing NSYNC at 16, back when I was running the largest NSYNC fan club on eGroups. (Yes, really.) Yahoo absorbed the site in 2001, right as I was heading to college, and they asked me to stay on and help manage it. I said no. I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I said yes. Funny how those little choices shape you.

But here I am now, still connecting people — just in a different way.

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The Magic of a Charted Disney Day

This week, I put on my Disney planner hat for a fellow magical mama and created a 9-page custom Cosmic Tune-Up for her family’s upcoming trip. That sweet spot where Disney meets the chart is where I come alive.

Their family was such a good example of what I see a lot: Opposites working together. They have a Capricorn-heavy dad with a soft Pisces moon, paired with a Cancer-Scorpio Rising mom and Pisces-Cancer Rising daughter. People containing multitudes.

I always wonder what parts of people come out at Disney — will the Pisces magic win, or will the Capricorn realism crunch the numbers too hard? Either way, it’s always about finding the balance. That’s the magic.

When the Stars Say Portugal

I also built a first draft travel plan for a podcast host and his wife’s anniversary. We are recording together on Monday, and Portugal came through strong in the charts. Beauty, history, and water. The kind of place that gives you space to breathe and feel something. Maybe even a stopover in the Azores. I’m excited to see where they land with it.

Coffee, Croatia, and the Currency of Real Connection

Finally, I met up with a new local friend (and subscriber!). She is a fellow business owner who, like me, straddles the line between professional and mystical. We talked shop, but also soul. How do we show up honestly without alienating people? What messages belong where? What’s too much? And we also talked about the tension that happens when planning group travel, especially when financial expectations differ.

That’s a big part of why I build trips around moments, not mandates. Experiences, not performances. Some of the most unforgettable travel memories I’ve ever had were over budget breakfasts or backyard meals. It’s never been about the dollar amount — it’s about the feeling.

I’ve forgotten the names of restaurants I once dressed up for.

But I remember the taste of mango eaten barefoot on a balcony,

and the way we laughed with our mouths full, like we had all the time in the world.

That’s the difference and my goal. That’s the vibe I’m always chasing, and helping others chase.

Looking Ahead: What’s Coming Next

Next week, I’m diving into more travel topics for people like you: posts about navigating concerts with tweens (because wow, I have thoughts), stories of astro-aligned destinations, and today… well, I’m off to NYC to meet Chani Nicholas. Let’s see what kind of spark that lights.

If you’re reading this, let me know in the comments what you’re most interested in hearing about!

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Thanks for being here.

If you haven’t yet, hit subscribe and stick around. The journey’s just getting started.

What You Get with a Day Pass

I signed up for the day pass at Kripalu to celebrate my mom’s birthday. I get a special rate for being an educator, but my mom also got a discounted rate for being a senior (call to learn more as it’s complex how/when they allow discounted rates). I spent $137 and that includes three meals, access to wellness and yoga/movement classes, a walking trail system, meditation spaces, a small beach at the lake with guided kayaking, and use of the whirlpool and sauna.

It’s the kind of thing that feels luxurious without being wasteful. You show up in your leggings, drink water from your reusable bottle, and spend the day slowly. It’s not a spa with robes and slippers. It’s a place where people are trying to listen more carefully. To themselves, mostly.

There’s something beautiful about how little is asked of you there. No one is selling anything, and no one checks your pose in yoga. You get to be exactly where you are, for once, without apology.

Your day starts with breakfast, which is silent. If that’s not your thing, many people take their food and go outside.

Connecting the Dots

After breakfast, we took a class on Zi Wei Dou Shu, a system of Chinese astrology I’ve always been curious about. You get to choose from a list of a few offerings, or you could just relax and explore yourself. There’s also some spa/wellness treatments (for an additional fee).

Back to the astro: Zi Wei Dou Shu is more structured than Western astrology, with fixed “palaces” and placements that don’t shift in the same way as houses and signs. It uses the hour, day, month, and year of birth to generate a chart that is deeply layered and logic-driven.

You might think something so different wouldn’t have much in common with the way I work. But the moment we began comparing placements and timing, I could see how things align and connect.

In this system, the chart highlighted the same parts of my life that show up in my Western chart: responsibility, pressure, timing of major life shifts, and the areas where I tend to carry weight that isn’t mine.

When two systems, with different cultures and traditions, describe the same rhythm in your life, it feels like it’s unlocking something that we have learned over thousands of years. It’s evidence of something patterned and real, from people who were far more observant of the natural world than we are now.

That’s what I do with Charted. I work with Western astrology, yes. But more importantly, I work with patterns. I build tools that help you notice what season you’re in and how you can best choose an adventure that meets you there.

I’m not here to make astrology your identity. It’s just a lens that shows you something that might shift how you plan your next trip or make your next big decision.

The Shop

If you’re someone who likes a good gift shop, Kripalu’s is worth a visit. It’s not overwhelming, and it’s curated with care. You’ll find herbs, teas, essential oils, books you’ve never seen before, and some yoga gear.

I picked up a few things for gifts and a tiny treasure to remember the trip with my mom. What I appreciated most was that none of it felt performative.

Yoga Class

The yoga was a gentle flow and offered as an invitation, not instruction. This was great, so my mom and I could do it together at our own paces. It was the kind of class where people actually close their eyes, because no one’s watching.

As someone who attends yoga classes regularly, sometimes you don’t need to be pushed. You just need room to BE without judgment.

Lunch, the Labyrinth, and the Lake

We ate lunch after class —huge bowls of salad with southwestern veggie burgers and homemade dressings. The Ginger Turmeric Ice Tea was also delish! You clear your tray when you’re done. There’s no background music. Just the sound of people chewing quietly, looking out the windows at the hills.

Afterward, we walked the labyrinth. It was in full bloom, wildflowers everywhere.We may have cheated and stepped (carefully) over a row or two on the way out. (Shhh)

We made our way down to the lake. They have an afternoon guided kayaking group that was out so we sat and watched the geese (plus one interloper duck). Then wandered back up to the café before heading home.

Why It Matters

For the rest of the week, I have been thinking about that astrology class. Not because I need another system, but because it reminded me that truth shows up in many forms. Sometimes it’s just a subtle sign of confirmation. Especially in times of transition. Anything could have been scheduled in that block (I’ve taken Tarot, Somatic Movement, and Gut Health— to name a few). Yet here it was on astrology as I’m starting this business. A subtle nod? I say yes.

This week wasn’t viral. But it was meaningful.

I got to:

• Connect with a travel podcast host who’s interested in bringing me on to talk about how astrology actually works in planning.

• I scheduled a meet-up with a fellow Village Yogi and local business owner.

• I spent real, grounded time with my mom, which both of us needed.

• And I booked a trip for August to visit one of my favorite humans — a soul-sister and fellow badass — right in time for the Lion’s Gate and the full moon.

No fireworks, just forward motion that builds.

And that’s what I’ll keep doing here. Offering ideas, building tools, showing you what’s possible when you pay attention to the timing, the rhythm, the pattern underneath it all.

More soon. And thanks, always, for reading.

— Cat

www.chartedco.com

Excerpt from "Consider the Hands that Write this Letter"

For years, I have come to sit this way:

one hand open, one hand closed,

like a farmer who puts down seeds & gathers up;

food will come from that farming.

Or, yes, it is like the way I've danced

with my left hand opened around a shoulder,

my right hand closed inside

of another hand. & how I pray,

I pray for this to be my way: sweet

work alluded to in the body's position to its paper:

left hand, right hand

like an open eye, an eye closed:

one hand flat against the trapdoor,

the other hand knocking, knocking.

Aracelis Girmay, "Consider the Hands that Write this Letter" from Teeth, published by Curbstone Press. Copyright © 2007 by Aracelis Girmay.

Whether you’re brand new to astrology or just need help connecting the dots, this tool walks you through the basics (signs, houses, planets, elements) so you can start understanding the why and how of what Charted is all about. It’s available to download in the digital shop.

The second bit of exciting news? I traveled to Japan this week — well, astrologically speaking.

One of my best friends and recent Cosmic Tune-Up clients had a beautifully detailed itinerary planned for a trip to Japan. (There was even a PowerPoint presentation, complete with visuals — created, of course, by her double Capricorn husband. Enough said.)

Here’s a peek at what our process looked like:

• Chart Review: I ran her chart — and the charts of her travel party — using the Koch house system. She’d previously used Whole Sign, so we noted what shifted and why that nuance matters, especially for trip planning.

• Astrocartography Mapping: We explored the planetary lines over Japan, noting points of exact conjunction and how different energies would highlight as they moved across the country. The map told a layered story

  

• Transit Timing: I pulled the transits for their travel dates — and the sky was incredibly supportive. Certain days stood out as especially aligned.

• House Focus: We anchored the whole plan in her ninth house — the house of travel, purpose, and expansion — to check how the trip matched where she is in this season of life. She had a stellium in this house, and I can confirm that she is the definition of a natural traveler.

• Personal Placements: We worked with her Moon (emotional comfort), Venus (pleasure + aesthetic preferences), and Mars (movement + pacing) to guide the mix of downtime vs. activity.

• Key Dates: One Venus transit in particular stood out — I offered suggestions for how to make the most of that day with beauty, ease, and connection.

• Group Dynamics: I provided insights into how each member of the travel party might show up during the trip, including red flags to watch for and ways to support one another’s energy.

The result? A travel plan that wasn’t just efficient — it was attuned. This is the magic of astrology when it’s applied to real life.

And yes — I’m already working on stunning new templates and digital tools to support her (and you!) on future journeys. I can’t wait to share them — and to hear how Japan unfolds for her.

Thanks for being here. More cosmic tools are on the way — next up: journal prompts for travel planning that help you uncover how and why you travel best.

Until the next adventure,
Cat

This post wasn’t part of a strategy or “content plan.” I just loved it there, and I wanted to share.

By that night, I was getting my Sunday checklist done, and then:

10,000 views.

50,000 views.

Over 300,000 views! As of right now, it has 489.7K!

My son tells me that it does not count until you’re over 700k, but I still thought it was pretty crazy for someone with less than 200 followers. It felt surreal — and honestly? A little hilarious. But also: meaningful. Because that is exactly what I created Charted for.

I wanted to help people create travel plans that are more than what looks good on paper. I wanted to help people create experiences that feel good.

If you can believe it, not everyone who knows me in real life knows how much I think about astrology. Some may not even know that in 2023, I became a Disney Travel Planner. But I think everyone knows how much I like helping people.

I have learned in that time that making a vacation special is not about how much money you spend, how Instagram-worthy your accommodations or room views are, or the quality of your meals. It’s about understanding who you are, who you are traveling with, and what you want from this experience.

So why did that TikTok resonate?

Because people don’t just want travel tips. I think they want easy travel that fits. I was taken aback by how many locals saved and commented on the post. They were so (rightly) proud of tiny Tupper Lake. It is a great place.

Whether you're a quiet wanderer, a sunrise chaser, a history nerd, or a “one and done” adventurer, your chart can help guide you toward trips that feel less forced and more aligned.

And apparently, I’m not the only one craving that.

So if you’re new here (hi, TikTok friends 👋), welcome.

If you’ve known me since my teaching days, my principal days, or even just from the yoga studio or around the kids’ school, thanks for being here, too.

This moment reminded me: sometimes you’re just sharing what you love, and it ends up being what someone else needed to see.

We’re building something here. Not just a business, but a way of planning — and living — that makes more sense.

See you out there,

Cat 🌙

First, hi, I’m Cat — an educator, travel planner, and the astro-curious chart-reader behind this newsletter. Like most people, I have always loved to travel, but as a teacher, my trips were squeezed into the summer months and school breaks. To keep my wandering spirit satisfied, I started planning trips for others in 2023 when I became a certified Disney travel planner.

As for astrology, I have been interested in horoscopes since my days of flipping the pages of Seventeen Magazine. However, it wasn’t until the COVID lockdown did I got serious about studying transits, aspects, different house systems, and methods of astrology. In 2023, I had an idea: what if I could use my natal chart to plan the perfect family vacation?

Not only did we have a wonderful time, but it also helped me to understand how my husband and children liked to travel. I built experiences around their unique transits during the time of our trip. Using their charts, I was able to look deeper and understand what they needed to feel supported and, ultimately, have the best vacation.

Over the last two and a half years, I have used this strategy again and again. I have amassed a wealth of resources that I am looking forward to sharing with you on this Substack and in my digital library.

This Substack is where I bring birth charts and boarding passes together. Whether you are a free or paid member, you’ll learn how to:

• Choose destinations that match your natal placements

• Use planetary transits (like Mercury retrograde or a Mars return) to plan smarter

• Travel in tune with your rhythms, not everyone else’s bucket list

Whether you’re a solo wanderer with a Sagittarius Moon or a homebody Cancer who needs the right mood to leave the house, Charted is here to guide your next adventure — astrologically and practically.

Thanks for being here. Let’s chart your next move together.
— Cat

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