diff --git a/src/layup/utilities/data_processing_utilities.py b/src/layup/utilities/data_processing_utilities.py
index 1680c5d1..79c2cebc 100644
--- a/src/layup/utilities/data_processing_utilities.py
+++ b/src/layup/utilities/data_processing_utilities.py
@@ -64,6 +64,10 @@
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
+# default Cache directory name where the layup auxiliary files are stored when layup bootstrap is ran
+# eg on Mac ~/Library/Caches/layup
+CACHE_DIR_NAME = "layup"
+
 
 def _running_inside_a_worker():
     """Whether this process is already one of several running in parallel.
@@ -446,6 +450,10 @@ def __init__(self, cache_dir=None):
             If the files or cache is not present, the files will be downloaded, by default None
         """
 
+        if cache_dir is None:
+            cache_dir = str(pooch.os_cache(CACHE_DIR_NAME))
+        self.cache_dir = cache_dir
+
         # Get Layup configs
         config = LayupConfigs()