When Magdalena thought about adopting a pet, she wasn’t looking for a travel companion, but simply a life companion. She lived with her partner and, although there were other cats in the house, none were exclusively hers. So she started looking at posts about animals for adoption until a photo made her stop. “I saw Molly and said: ‘that’s the one’.” The kitten was only two months old.
The first meeting gave a hint of what was to come. They took her home by car and, to Magdalena’s surprise, Molly behaved incredibly well throughout the trip.
Once home, they prepared everything to welcome her: her litter box, her toys, her collar, and her things. And Molly surprised again. “We didn’t teach her anything,” says Magdalena. From the very first moment, the little cat adapted perfectly to her new life.
Her personality also began to show from those first months. Magdalena describes her as “very calm and patient,” but also adventurous: “She really likes to explore and smell everything”.
Her first walks, however, were not planned. Since Molly was still very small and lived in a house with other cats that had access to the outside, Magdalena started taking her along when she went to her drumming classes. She didn’t want to leave her alone or expose her to the other animals.
For about three weeks, Molly accompanied her to her practice room. She went by car, spent the day with her, and then they returned home. Until one day Magdalena decided to try something new: take her to a park. “I had bought her a mini harness, put it on her, and there was never a problem, nothing. We went to the park and Molly started playing. I didn’t know that was possible,” she recalls.
Since then, walks became part of her routine. First parks, then bigger parks like Bicentenario, and little by little, other places in Santiago. Molly adapted to each new setting.
“It was very gradual,” explains Magdalena. “I never adopted her thinking I wanted a cat to go out with me. In fact, it wasn’t even on my mind.” But Molly seemed to enjoy it and that opened a new possibility: traveling together.
Magdalena’s family has a house in the south, where they usually spend long periods. So, for a vacation, she thought that if Molly enjoyed going out so much, she could also accompany them.
The first big trip was to Pucón. There Molly experienced landscapes completely different from those she had seen in Santiago. “We went to the foot of the volcano, to the forest, and Molly adapted super well. She liked it, smelled many things. I saw she was very entertained,” she says.
Thus, Molly officially became a travel companion. In the car, she has her own bed and, when they go out for long periods, Magdalena brings everything she might need. Before leaving, she also checks that the GPS Molly uses has battery and prepares the gear for their walks.
And although she usually behaves very well, there are some things she still doesn’t love. Dogs can make her nervous, as can people who stop to watch her while she walks. Even so, Magdalena says she generally stays calm.
Of all the adventures they have lived together, there is one that holds a special place: the climb to El Cañi hill, in Pucón. “It was a super intense trek. It was about four hours and we took eight. Molly toughened it out until the end,” Magdalena recalls. The three ended up exhausted but happy. “It was very special,” she says.
Molly’s adventures eventually reached Instagram. “I thought ‘I’ll make her an Instagram just in case. At least to save photos of her’,” she says. But then she discovered other accounts of cats traveling through different countries and thought Molly also had something to show. That’s how she started sharing her walks, her reactions, and her encounters with other people.
The account grew little by little and today Molly has a community of more than 56 thousand people who follow her adventures and even recognize her when they see her on the street. Magdalena says she doesn’t seek to turn her into a celebrity with millions of followers. What she values most is the affection she has generated. “With what I have now, with what we have, it’s enough. People love her so much that for me that’s what I like the most,” she says.
Beyond the travels, there is something Magdalena has tried to nurture since Molly was little: “What I always tried to do, since she was tiny, was never to force her. Never say: ‘Come on, you have to come with me because I’m your owner’.” Over time, they both learned to understand each other within their own ways of communication. “I wanted to build something based on respect,” she says.
Molly is not a particularly cuddly cat either. “She is super independent. She has her space, I have mine, but we are always together,” Magdalena describes. And although they can’t express in words how much they love each other, they have developed their own codes. Magdalena has learned to recognize Molly’s affection in her way of accompanying her, being close, and sharing with her, even without constantly seeking contact.
This adventurous little cat has also changed the way Magdalena enjoys simple things and has awakened in her a form of care she didn’t know. “Sometimes you get ambitious in life, but really being outside with Molly listening to the wind, the birds, and the running water, there’s nothing that can top that for me.” And she adds: “It’s like the motherly love I didn’t know I had.”
Read more U.S. announces interception in the Pacific of a vessel linked to the criminal gang Los Choneros
—“For me, she is everything”—she concludes.
