Interview with Kathryn Antle: Chatting all things 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 fourteen. I was born in Florida and grew up with my older sister Isabel, two younger sisters Lauren and Rachael and our amazing parents. I love drawing and painting as well as coding and web design. I’m super fond of plants, animals and I enjoy writing poetry. My family and I have 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 United States.

In twenty fifteen however we did something different. We went on a road trip around Canada, then flew to Hawaii and, finally, Japan. This marked the first time we had ever been out of the country and we loved it. So, in early twenty sixteen, 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 as of yet have no plans on going back to the United States. The world is a playground for the adventurous and we are taking full advantage of this!

 

Which country did you most enjoy visiting and do you have any funny or memorable stories from your time there?

I had a hard time deciding on 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 of twenty sixteen so it was very quiet there. There were little tourists. I have many highlights I could speak of. 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.

As for 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 began calling us the duckling family! Also, there were multiple instances where stray dogs would follow us around and join our pack, haha.

 

What are you dreams and inspirations in life + what world issues do you feel passionately about resolving?

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. If I could change anything, I’d want to be of aid in the ongoing climate change and world poverty crises. I’d make sure high quality education was available to everyone.

 

Do you have any fascinating quirks?

I sure do! I’m known for making up lots of random words that nobody else understands. I like to collect lots of small trinkets and momentos for my journal. I can’t help but drop my shoes and walk around barefoot when I’m out and no cat has ever crossed my path that has not been pet!