Interview with 15 year old Unschooling / Worldschooling Teen

Recently Miro was asked to give a podcast interview (which will be released very soon).  Miro was supplied with a series of questions in preparation for the interview… so he wrote out his answers. But when the interview happened it was more of a candid conversation and went in many new directions.  Still, Miro prepared his answers and since they weren’t used during the podcast interview, he wanted to share his answers with you here today.

Q: What is your journey? What path did you take to reach where you are today?

Well, my mother and I left the united states five years ago, with plans to be gone for 1 year. But what made this experience unique, is when we left we had no plans. We just had our backpacks and we decided where to go from there.

I also had equal weight when it came to decision making on our travels, which was also a very empowering experience. We took this journey initially because of an economic crash back in 2008, but it turned from a family vacation into a
lifestyle.

Q: What do you think when you hear people talking about teenage rebellion?

It’s irrelevant to me, as it’s never been a part of my experience. I have never had any teenage rebellion, probably because I’ve had nothing to rebel against. All (or most) of my life choices were made by me, so rebellion became pointless.

Q: What does education mean to you?

Learning just by experiencing what this great world has to offer, the knowledge is all around, you just have to know how to soak it all in. Live to learn, learn to live.

Q: What do you say to people who ask how do you learn science, math, etc?

Kind of the same answer, the learning is present with every day life, *especially* math and science. That being said, as a worldschooler I don’t believe in breaking life down into subjects, as you can’t help but learn in this vast world of ours.

Q: When you look back on the times when you were living a more main stream lifestyle, what are your thoughts? Similarly if you compare your lifestyle to main stream lifestyles portrayed in the media, or the lifestyles of others you meet, what are your thoughts?

A completely different experience. Our lifestyle isn’t dictated by the crippling capitalism that we were once slaves in. We live how we want, free from economic pressure and societal expectations. And I’m not saying we don’t work, we do, but on our terms, and by doing so we live hand to mouth, and need nothing else.

Q: What do you like best about your lifestyle? What don’t you like about your lifestyle?

As with every lifestyle, there are ups and downs. The freedom of our lives is certainly the big upside, if we want to pack up and go at any time we can do so. But, on the flipside, this also means we can never really establish our roots, not being able to make a very desirable community, which is also where our side project, Project World School comes in, as we seek to not only fill that void for us, but for any party interested.

Q: Do you have long term friendships? If so, how do you keep them with your nomadic lifestyle?

It’s pretty rough, but it would be completely impossible if not for the internet. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful tool to keep in contact with all of my friends. One of my best friends is a boy my age who lives a similar lifestyle with his family. We’ve been great friends for 3 years now and have never met in person.

Q: What are your thoughts on culture?

On the value of learning about the culture of others? I think it’s great, really a fantastic mind opener. To know that humans all across the world of the same biological family are practicing different traditions really gets your mind going. Our ability to make such special and meaningful customs is amazing, and I think those traditions are really what makes us human.

Q: What are your thoughts on freedom and liberty?

Our lifestyle is the embodiment of those two things, and those two things are my favorite part about my life. Freedom is the most sought after thing in this world, whether it be freedom of economy, or freedom of society, which makes me feel incredibly honored to be living a true, liberty filled life. I think we as humans forget that freedom is one of a persons basic needs, and have completely nixed it from many people without even knowing it, especially kids, who are the most affected demographic.

Q: What are your plans and goals for the present and future?

To live a happy and just all around great life. We’ll see what I do in the future, but I’m honestly content to joyously roam the world, and nothing else. Imagine if Atlas was finally able to put down the Earth. Do you think he would stick around for his next shift?

For present plans, my mother and I are working on teen World-school retreats, to help bring kids to countries of other cultures, and to hopefully give them a true taste of cultural immersion. You can find out more about it at ProjectWorldSchool.com

Q: Is there anything you would like to tell the audience before we close?

To live life to the fullest really. If you’ve ever wanted to go and travel, or do anything, you should do it now. Why toil away tirelessly so you can enjoy life later? Now is the last time this moment will ever happen, so go before the moment escapes you.

Q: Where can people find out more?

Our personal website is RaisingMiro.com, and our website for the teen retreats is ProjectWorldSchool.com Thank you for having me.

Here is a link to the podcast interview Miro gave for the podcast Choice Conversations- How to Live a Great Life with Miro and Kevin Geary