Mi’Jan Wilder: single parent. nomadic traveler. caravan chronicler.

Mi’Jan Wilder has been a featured travel writer on Sosauce ever since she joined the Travel Geek community. Read any of her Journal entries and you will soon find out why. An exceptional skill for resonating time and place, thrown in with humor and enlightenment, Mi’Jan takes us through her wild journey around the world alongside her two small children. Her stories of courage, parenting, and of course – travels – undoubtedly make her the New Face of Sosauce.

Since 2007 Mi’Jan has been on a non-stop whirlwind adventure traveling with the kiddies through South America, and traveling solo with the 20th Friendshipment Caravan with Pastors for Peace. She has also seen Ecuador, Mexico, “half of the United States,” Brasil, Peru, and Italy. Her life has been hectic recently but luckily she had time to fit in an interview with me about her writing, what it is like raising two small children on the road, and inspiring tales from the life she has led.

Read Mi’Jan’s coming of age story as a Travel Geek below:

When were you first bitten by the travel bug?

I was one of those kids who would search out massive amounts of travel books + national geographic magazines at the neighborhood library.  I mean, I was hardcore about it.  Then my turn finally came: I went to South America as an exchange student in high school.  I lived with a host family where my ‘mom’ was running for government as a socialist candidate, and I had the opportunity to travel in an independent fashion as a young woman. That time of my life had a profound and lasting impact on my ability to conceive of myself as a woman of color, deserving of the privilege to see the world in new and interesting ways.

Can you describe what it is like being a traveling single mom?

It can be amazing, and it is filled with a lot of curiosity (on both my/our end as well as the locals).

In the beginning, just a few years back (and pre-Obama), I got a lot of negativity.  I was perceived as being completely irresponsible and flaky.  I lost some relationships along the way and to my pleasant surprise - forged incredibly new ones too.  Friends/colleagues/family members accused me of being a bad mother for taking my children to the “Third World.”  There was a lot of fear during those years (which was not so long ago).  The only way I could really turn around all that judgment was by doing as much as I could to stretch to their side and see their fear.  The idea that stands out in my thinking has to do with the insulation of living in the United States, where a great majority of folks do not leave their cities/states/country borders for a variety of reasons.  I am thinking more and more that this isolation creates an unfortunate cycle of fear about traveling to, or living in non-Western societies.

On the kids’ side, I have to say it has been one of the best parenting decisions I made.  Both the kids have a wider view of the world, from their early years, which is a pretty nice way to form one’s life; you know, being welcoming, curious, inclusive, outgoing etc.  As a result, they make friends at the drop of a dime.  My son has learned how to play capoeira, speak Brasilian Portuguese, and has a nose for healthy street food.  He gets the importance of speaking different languages - as a connector of peoples in general (and playing soccer like a pro and following the different Central and South American teams definitely hasn’t hurt the kids chances of being easily accepted).

My daughter is the super outgoing one in our tribe. Even still, when I came to pick her up from the first day of preschool while we were living in Brasil, I was stunned.  She was sporting a bright pink wig and dancing the samba with her teacher.  I can’t even dance the samba!

Ultimately though, there’s something different and unique for parents who travel the world over and get to experience it in a second hand way, through their children’s eyes.  It is almost as if any fears I had going into the journey get transformed.  Yes, I am a bit more tense than when I am traveling alone – I have to be responsible for the safety and well-being for all of us – that can feel scary when you don’t know how to speak the language in the beginning, let alone the directions (or address) home.  But kids are natural community makers and organizers.  They are always gathering other kids in their life, who in turn have all sorts of adults, who of course open up their homes and lives to share with me.  Believe it or not, it almost feels like traveling with kids equal instant new life.

Over the past few months we’ve spoken, you have visited tons of destinations. Can you tell us a bit about your current travels?

The Caravan Chronicles are about my participation with the 20th Friendshipment Caravan with Pastors for Peace.  The purpose of the caravan is to raise awareness of the issues relating to the blockade, and to challenge the United States travel ban to Cuba.  Some participants like myself choose to travel in support, however do not participate beyond the United States/Mexico border, whereas others make the full journey to Cuba and back.  There are 14 different routes which originate in Canada and the United States.  For more information, the official organization site is: http://www.ifconews.org/CubaCaravan

Now that you have seen the world over, do you have a favorite travel memory?

There are too many to choose from!  The most recent I suppose, being the caravan.

Your traveling plans don’t seem to stop anytime soon. What is next on your itinerary?

For the immediate, i.e. this week, I am headed out to party and make music with friends living off the grid in the Southwest.  Next week I fly out to Arizona to couchsurf with activists and artists who are co-organizing/participating in demonstrations, free market/Buy Nothing Day, indigenous peoples gathering etc.  After that intense week I will be spending time in Southern and Northern California (stay tuned for more City Reviews) to be with friends and family.

Any last thoughts?

Because I remain ever faithful to the idea of nomadic love, I have to say that my official intention is to meet a soul mate sometime soon during all my zig zagging on the roads, in the air and the rail.  It’s actually a running joke with my friends because as much as I travel, they seem to believe I’ll meet that extra special person at Trader Joe’s instead of Tibet.  Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

We want to thank Mi’Jan for the wonderful stories she has shared with us on Sosauce and wish her the best of luck to her and her little ones as they continue to explore the world.

*Each week we’ll be presenting a New Face of Sosauce – an editorial biography on a Sosaucer and their travels. Isn’t it time we feature you?

Read more posts by Alisha

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 1:10 PM and is filed under New Face of Sosauce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.