An Interview with Kathryn Antle- chatting about dreams, aspirations and nomadic living!

 

 

 

Hello Kathryn! Thanks for agreeing to this interview. First off, can you tell us about you?

Hi, I’m Kathryn and I’m 14. I was born in Florida and grew up with my older sister Isabel, two younger sisters Lauren and Rachael and our amazing parents. We lived in many states and we’ve moved a lot. When I was eight years old we moved to Colorado and lived with my aunt and uncle until we found an apartment and settled into the longest home I would ever have. We lived in Louisville, Colorado for seven great years but always went on road trips around the US. In 2015 however we did something different. We went on a road trip around Canada, then flew to Hawaii, then Japan. It was the first time we had ever been out of the country. We loved it. So, in early 2016, we sold our belongings in exchange for backpacks and made the world our lovely home. We volunteer and rent apartments, take local buses and trains and sometimes cheap flights. So far we have travelled to over twenty countries and it has been almost two years. We do our school work on free sites like Khan Academy and CK12 and we have no plans on going back to the US yet. The world is a playground for the adventurous.

 

What are five fun facts about you?

I love drawing and painting as well as coding and web design. I’m super fond of plants. I like to write poetry. Oh, and I love animals!

 

Favourite place you’ve been so far? Share a funny story!

I had a hard time deciding my favourite place because I have seen so many beautiful cities and towns that each have their own treasures. In Denmark, my family and I volunteered at a ceramics workshop and helped with a conference that was going on at the time. Denmark itself is a very beautiful country- the man who owned the workshop took us on a trip to Skagen, which I have to say is my favourite town. We went in October 2016, so it was very quiet there- little tourists!

I loved that the buildings were painted yellow. Also, it is where the Skagerrak and Kattegat seas meet, merging together their two shades of blue. The highlight of my trip was visiting the Skagen Art Museum. It was incredibly beautiful.

 

A funny story: In Thailand, we were volunteering at a school in a small town called Uttaradit. Because the local people had not seen tourists outside of movies, they were surprised to see us. My family is quite big and we don’t have a car so end up walking everywhere. It makes sense that the Thai people called us the “duckling family!” Also, in multiple instances, stray dogs would also follow us around and join our “pack.”

 

What are you dreams and inspirations in life?

I dream of having a purposeful life and helping many people. I would like to improve my art and writing and maybe even open a cafe. I want to be surrounded by amazing, intelligent people and be with my loving family.

 

Do you have any weird quirks?

I make up lots of random words that nobody understands. I like to collect lots of small things for my journal. I can’t help but drop my shoes and walk around barefoot. No cat has ever crossed my path that has not been pet.

 

What issues do you feel passionately about resolving?

Climate change, human rights, world poverty and education being inaccessible to all.