An Interview With Karen Akpan of The Mom Trotter
Today we have Karen Akpan on The Mag. Karen is the founder Black Kids Do Travel as well as the extremely popular site The Mom Trotter where she talks budget travel tips, homeschooling life and living in an RV full-time. Learn more about Karen and her family, how they decided to hit the road, what it means to be a global citizen and much more!
Introduce yourself and your family. How old is your son?
My name is Karen, my husband's name is Sylvester and we have a beautiful 7 year old son called Aiden. My husband and I have been together for 12 years and married for 9 years this year.
You’re a full-time RV / homeschooling Family. When did you decide to pursue this lifestyle and what were those early discussions like?
Yes we are a full time RV and homeschooling/roadschooling/worldschooling family. We made the decision to homeschool our son Aiden when he was about two years old. As the years went on, my husband and I realized how much Aiden was learning from his experiences and the world around him. That confirmed our decision to homeschool him and show him the world. We've been homeschooling Aiden and traveling with him since he was just 6 months on. This year, we made the decision to sell all our belongings (well most) as well as our home and purchase an RV. Our three main reasons for doing this was because we wanted to spend more time together, pay off debt and travel to every state in the US. We've done a lot of international travel, but we also recognize how beautiful America is and we want to travel and experience it as a family.
What does it mean to be a global citizen?
Being a global citizen to me, means to be open, accepting and respectful of all people and cultures in the world. This is important to me because I want to raise my son to be a global citizen. Not being familiar with someone's culture shouldn't matter, because we as people should always be open to learning about it and respecting it. Being a global citizen means caring about others and looking out for each other all the time. It also means accepting that although we are all different, we are also one.
What are your top three places you’ve visited and why?
Picking the top 3 places we've been to is very hard as it varies so much and even changes daily. One place that we all agree on that had a very huge impact on us was Morocco. My husband and I took our son, nieces and nephews on this. We learned about the culture, enjoyed Moroccan food and even got to camp in the Sahara desert. We rode to our tents in the middle of the desert on camels, and had the most amazing experience. Dancing under the stars to the drums after dinner was just amazing. We also enjoyed road tripping through the US Southwest via RV visiting California, Arizona, all 5 national parks in Utah and Nevada. This trip is what sparked our interest in RV'ing and was the primary reason why we purchased an RV to travel the US. Another place we've been to that we absolutely loved was Taiwan. It is probably my favorite Asian country, from the culture to the amazing street food. Taiwan is so underrated!
Name other small businesses that you admire.
Avebelle Designs , she is a small business and makes mommy and me as well as family African print dresses that are just absolutely beautiful. She also makes sleeping caps/bonnets that my son and I wear to sleep to protect our hair.
Elisamama Kids is also another small business that I admire. She makes beautiful African print clothes for kids.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Follow your dreams!! My husband and I dreamed of the day we would be able to homeschool our son and travel the world, and here we are doing it. Don't give up even if it seems like your dreams are taking longer to achieve.
And finally, where can we find you?
Website: themomtrotter.com
Instagram/social: @Themomtotter
