Nice to meet you.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My real name is Camille, but I’m more commonly known as Morsie.
You may be wondering, where the heck did that come from? Four other people named Camille were in my high school class, so we often had to be called by our last names. Since mine’s Morales, one day, a classmate randomly blurted out “Morsie” out of nowhere. And it stuck!
A millennial, a woman, an immigrant, a Philippine passport holder, a traveler, a free spirit. These are the primary identifiers I’d like to use to present myself in this blog, and how I’d like to relate to you. For the longest time (I’m talking about years!), I have been putting off starting a serious, organized blog. I’ve written personal blogs in the past, and I’ve always had the desire to do more. But I kept making up excuses, like I’m busy, too tired, too lazy, maybe next time. Then the 2020 pandemic happened. The internet landscape has changed, and blogs are no longer as big as they once were, especially now with the advent of vlogs, TikTok, and AI.
Despite that, I still want to see this through because blogging has always been one of my favorite forms of expression. It feels like I’m sharing a special piece of myself in every word I write. Over the years, the travel photos I have grew to a crazy amount, and my notes and drafts kept piling up. This blog has always been a passion project of mine, and I owe it to myself to fulfill it. And I feel now is the perfect time to do so. I’m still finding my voice and niche, but I’ll take it slowly, one post at a time. I hope you can all join me in this journey!
My Story
I grew up in a seaside town called Subic in the Philippines, and spent a few years living independently in Manila to study pharmacy. My heart for travel started beating when I went on a trip to Palawan during my last college summer vacation in 2014. After falling in love with its beauty, suddenly, an urge to see more of the world and all of its wonders built up inside of me. My original plan taking up pharmacy as an undergrad course was to eventually go to med school. However, during my junior year, I was starting to have doubts about it. That trip sealed the deal for me, pushing me to finally forego that path.
I spent a good 2.5 years of my post-grad life traveling around my own country first, officially visiting 78 out of 82 Philippine provinces (I’m still planning to complete that btw!).
At 22, I left the life I loved so much behind and decided to follow my parents to the US to pursue potentially greater things.
Like a lot of people, I felt so lost for a long time, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. And honestly, even until now, I still feel lost sometimes. But I’ve gotten better at going with the flow, just living by the que sera, sera mantra. Currently, I have a regular full-time job in San Diego, and I still ended up pursuing a career in pharmacy. I’m incredibly fortunate that my schedule and circumstances afford me to be able to travel both locally and abroad every couple of months, PTO be damned (in other words, I have none left lol).
My travel style has drastically changed over the years. I used to be so frugal when I was backpacking throughout the Philippines, even resorting to hitchhiking and couchsurfing a few times to save money. As I grew older, inevitably, my perspective and financial standing had changed as well. Now, I like splurging (a little). I’ve traveled solo a lot, but I also enjoy traveling with friends.
When I was in my late teens/early 20s (damn that makes me sound so old…I’m only 30!), I dreamed of being one of those people who dared to just drop everything and say, "Fuck it, I'm going to travel the world!,” quitting their 9-5 jobs, selling everything they own and traveling long-term, working odd jobs to sustain that life, having so many amazing experiences. I know it's not all rainbows and butterflies, but I still used to be envious of them. But one day, I just found myself not wanting that anymore. I’ve made peace with the fact that I may not be able to fulfill my old dream of setting foot in every country of the world in this lifetime.
And that’s totally fine.
The hunger to travel and see the world will always be a part of me. But rather than it being a fiery, intense passion that can fizzle out at any moment, it has become a calm, quiet love that’s as everlasting and instinctive as breathing. I don’t plan to quit my job anytime soon to live the travel life I used to romanticize so much. As much as I love adventures, I also enjoy having stability, being with my loved ones, and sleeping in the comfort of my own bed at the end of every trip.
Aside from traveling, I’d like to think I have other talents besides not getting lost. I love playing board games and escape rooms, and photography (though I admit I hate sorting and editing). I am in no way a professional, but sometimes I do photoshoots for my friends as gifts because 1) I don’t have to spend a dime on anything…just my time! and 2) I’m touched that they trust and appreciate my “talent.” You can check out my photography IG (@casualreminiscence) here.
I’ve included a few more interesting facts about me down below, but that’s it!
If you have reached this point, I want to thank you for taking the time to get to know me. Hope to see you around here!
Fun Facts About Me
I was born on the summer solstice (June 21), that’s why my favorite season is summer!
I’m 100% a Gemini! My moon and rising signs are both Aries. My MBTI is INTP.
I love karaoke. I’m a decent singer, definitely not cut out to be a soloist though. I’ve joined church choirs and even got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing for Pope Francis’ visit to our university in 2015.
I once won an Instagram competition with the prize being a trip to New Zealand.
I had unfounded zoophobia for a long time, but I’ve slowly since eased up with dogs.
I’m a picky eater AF. I can be adventurous in a lot of different aspects, but not really with food.
When I was in high school, I wrote an 11-page love story about two of my classmates’ older brother and sister (who were also friends and classmates of each other) because I shipped them LOL. I gave the finished work to my classmate, I just hope she never lets her sister read it!
I sat front row during the Eras Tour in LA, and I have a video of Taylor Swift behind me looking at my friend’s camera! Peak Swiftie moment!
High on my travel bucketlist: Mongolia, Egypt, Spain, Iceland, Chile, Maldives, Namibia, Kenya, Morocco, Turkey.
