Retiree, Traveller, Adventurer, Busy Artist, Bush Walker, Nature Lover, Dharamshala, India

If a cat could live out nine lives simultaneously, she still wouldn’t have anything on Ms. Catherine (Cat) McCahill’s adventures. I met Cat in the northern India, on the edge of the Himalayas. She has travelled eight hours (by car) to reach a town called McLeod Ganj, otherwise known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" because of its large population of Tibetans. The Tibetan government-in-exile is headquartered in McLeod Ganj. Here, Cat made friends with the locals, tried yoga, and experienced the vibrant Tibetan culture. Her heart was open and people responded.

This adventurer’s take on the world is beautifully simple: live a full life, see as much as you can, trust others to show you the beauty of the world. Life is short. As I left India, Ms. McCahill was just getting started and later hiked to the top of the Triund peak, a 20 km (12 mile) round trek with breathtaking views of the Kangra Valley and the snow covered Dhauladhar ranges. Cat, who is back in beautiful Australia, is surely plotting her next adventure. We can’t wait.

1. Name.

Catherine McCahill.

2. Where is your hometown?

Sydney, New South Whales, Australia.

3. What is your profession/career/title/self-label/designation? What does your average day look like?

Retired from paid work now, my time is taken up keeping reasonably fit with yoga, Pilates and bush walking so I can remain independent and useful for the next third of my life. I'm a nature lover, so gain peace and inspiration daily from Australia's natural world.

I've always liked working with my hands and so make gardens, ceramics mad clothing from unusual natural fabrics. These are given to family and friends - people seem to enjoy a hand made object.

4. What did you study in school?

My tertiary studies were spread over two degrees where I enjoyed art, music, languages and science - a mixture I know - and was fortunate to have some inspiring teachers to guide my interests. Living in Australia, so distant from the cultures studied, I felt a strong pull to see the world for myself. Leaving Australia was a rite of passage in my family - older sisters had ventured to distant lands on a wing and a prayer well before travel became as easy as it is today.

As soon a s I was able, my backpack was stuffed with the bare essentials and I set off to London and beyond on a one way ticket. Visas were not required back then - you showed your primitive looking passport at each border crossing hoping that the bored or surly guards would let you through!

5. What was the journey like to get where you are (in life and career-wise)? What are some accomplishments you’re most proud of, and what was the turning point to set you on a current path in life?

I returned to Sydney a couple of years later having spent the previous six months in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka and my first thought was 'Where is everybody?' Sydney was so quiet and orderly with seemingly empty streets after having negotiated the teeming cities of the subcontinent.

Within two weeks, I was living in a beachside house, had a good teaching job and a car to commute. And freedom to do as a saw fit. The contrast of this independent life with the lives of the women I had spent time with in Asia was a stark awakening that I was so very fortunate to have choices and agency over my own life. I have never forgotten this and feel grateful for everything in my life.

6 & 7. How is your life different from what you pictured at 20? Was there a time when life knocked you down or out and how did you get back up on your feet?

I would never have imagined my life as it is now when I was twenty. I would never have imagined losing three very close family members far too early and in tragic circumstances over nine years, but it happened.

Looking at this from afar, I know that these are the things that can befall any of us and we CAN look ahead, feel less pain and have a future. When your world appears to fall apart, you seek help and work hard to get through and rebuild.

8. Advice for other women?

I would advise young women to support each other, find and be good mentors in the workplace, develop your skills and discipline and work hard towards your goals.

9. Knowing what we know now in a current political climate, can women be "all that we can be" in today's world? What is the way forward, as you see it, for "feminist values"?

Women's opportunities and freedoms have grown enormously in my lifetime, however, not without sacrifices. Women cannot 'have it all' at the one time though; not without a lot of support. Do not demand changes unless necessary. Pick your battles and leave well enough alone. All social change takes time - generations in fact. Keep chipping away at the problems that affect you and forget the rest otherwise you risk living an exhausting life.

10. Where in the world do you feel “tallest” (i.e. where is your happy place)?

I am at my happiest in tow places - firstly, with my family. We all live at great distances, so gatherings are very special. Secondly, out in the wilds of the Australian landscape. This is more a meditation for me. I connect with my spirit quietly in the bush.

11. What extra-curricular activities/hobbies are you most proud of? Why?

I am most proud of turning a bare patch of my block into a verdant garden of trees and understory for the birds and insects to thrive here in the city. I even dug a frog pond which is filling with tadpoles. Those yoga and Pilates exercises came in handy!

12. What do you want to be when you grow up? Future goals/challenges?

After so much international travel I have become very concerned about overpopulation, pollution and land degradation. I have reassessed my travel needs limiting flying. I will concentrate on my own country - seeing more of it by land and doing what I can in my small way to work on the environment.

13. What fears are you still hoping to overcome?

Truly, I have no fears now! I have survived car crashes, a light plane crash and many personal losses. I have survived and I will thrive.

Well, I do have one big concern - the future of our beautiful blue planet. We cannot sustain 8 billion people now without gross environmental degradation. My hope is that the population will plateau then drop. But this will take generations of natural attrition. And some planning.

14. Anything you'd do differently, if you had another go at life?

If I had my time over, I would have taken those flying lessons my father offered me at 17. A golden opportunity wasted because I was not committed to it. Too busy having teenage fun.

15. What inspires you?

I'm inspired by selfless people who devote their whole lives to helping others in need. Catherine Hamlyn - has run a Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia for fifty years and is still working in her mid nineties, repairing young women and giving them hope in life where there was none. The late Fred Hollows who pioneered cheap eye surgery in Nepal and in Australian Indigenous communities. Selfless people indeed.

16. What are you hopeful about?

I am hopeful about the spread of good education the world over. A good education can help lift people from poverty, open minds to possibilities and allow choices and a better quality of life.

17. What are some ingredients to a good life?

Some ingredients for a good life? A loving parent or two who are good role models, a set of guidelines learnt in childhood is a great start - the humane guidelines set out by the world's major religions is a good start. Be honest, kind, hospitable. Work conscientiously. Appreciate the little things in life.

18. What are (at least) three qualities you most love about yourself and why?

The qualities that I like about myself are that I genuinely like people and want the best for them. I like being creative and artistic - it keeps me interested and busy. I'm very interested in how the world works - now that really keeps me busy; reading, discussing and thinking.

20. What are you reading now? (what books do you gift most and what are your favourite reads?)

I read non-fiction mostly- politics, current events, history and social science. Very occasionally I will read a novel. I do like a memoir by Rowena Farr called The Beckoning Land - her travels in the fifties in India, Velocity by Mandy Sayer - a bohemian life of a teenaged girl in Sydney.

21. Who is a WOW Woman in your world who inspires you and why? Can you nominate three (or more) women you know who perfectly fit WOW WOMAN description? What would you tell them, if you had an opportunity, why you admire them?

A good friend, Carol, who has had three interesting careers, brought up three children successfully, maintained a happy 40 year marriage and is a giving person who is always working on a new skill or project.

Linda - another friend who began her studies as a single mother at age 40, graduated as a chiropractor and runs a successful business in her home town. Nothing stops this woman from learning,caring and giving.

Doreen - a very young woman from Papua New Guinea - who arrived in Australia as a very shy mother of three young children who went on to study nursing (in English, her third language) keeping a spotless home, keeping fit, cooking great meals AND working shift-work. Gaining so much confidence and skill through sheer determination and hard work - she's a great example to all. And she's fabulous and fun company!

22. Where can others find you/your work (links to websites, blogs, etc.)?

My Instagram: @quollcat