Meet  Lainie Liberti a 44 single mother, ex- business owner, artist, designer, brander,  writer, creative thinker, activist, liberal, dog lover, and traveler currently exploring the world with her 11 year old son, Miro. By the time they left on their around the world journey, Miro was 10 years old.  

In the beginning of 2009, they sold or gave away all of possessions and hit the road for a permanent adventure beginning in July of that same year. The two have been traveling throughout Central America for a year and a half an currently find themselves in South America   with no stop in sight.

In Lainie's words “We are here, and there’s no desire to turn back. The “where is here?” question is unimportant, since our physical location continues to change. The freedom in that movement is part of the answer. We are a mother and son, living a nomadic lifestyle and have no destination in mind or an end date to count down to.”

The circumstances that led to their current lifestyle were an amalgamation of many things lining up to create a path of least resistance. Lainie explains, “there are three main factors that led to our jumping ship from the conventional lifestyle: inspiration, economy and mental sanity.”

For Lainie, being inspired  means living a simpler life, something that is now trending in progressive circles, defined through the term 'lifestyle redesign'. Before Lainie had even heard this phrase, she was itching for a life off the 'grid' and outside consumerist cycle of ownership and debt. Professionally, Lainie owned and ran a small branding agency which focused on serving green -eco business, non- profits and conscious business. She created as much peace as she could within her professional life developing  branding strategies but recognized she was still functioning within the world of consumerism and marketing. 

For all of Miro's life, Lainie was the primary care-taker, responsible for raising her son on her own. In addition to be a full time mom, and running her own brand, marketing and design agency called jungle [8]. In other words, this meant that most of the time, she was busy, busy, busy.  She tearfully recalls the most common phrase she heard from my son (after “I love you” of course) was “Mom, you work too much. You never spend any time with me.” She still has difficulty expressing the heartbreak she experienced every time she heard her son utter those words.  

In 2008 the economy took a tumble and business in California were greatly effected. Especially those that relied on the non-profit world as it's clientele. As a result, jungle [8]'s  “bread and butter” clients started going away.   

One evening in September 2008, Lainie recalls  sitting with Miro in her office after everyone had left for the evening. She let out a sigh and looked at her son and said “I don't want to do this anymore... Let's get rid of everything and find a simpler life, climb a volcano, plant a garden, live in the jungle. Let's go have an adventure in the world away from this consumerist lifestyle and get back to what really matters. Each other and enjoying life.”
Miro looked and his mom,  smiled and said “I'm in!'
..and that was all it took. 

 The next question was really where should they go? After some contemplation, they decided on Central and South America as their first destination, but eventually leading to an around the world adventure. This adventure consists of seeing and exploring different cultures and being proud 'global citizens'. This includes living in the present moment, staying inspired, doing volunteer work and participating in the world, without fear. 

The financial challenges may have been the catalyst for change, but the choice to adapt a nomadic lifestyle was based on the trust the two have on each other, and on life itself. After one year traveling, the pair remain excited about the possibilities and optimistic about the future and 'Oh, the places they'll go'.  It is apparent how much Miro is thriving, learning guitar, singing and has become almost fluent in Spanish. 

It seems there is no justification needed, only inspiration. And “inspired”  describes perfectly how this remarkable mother and son experience the world together. They have put up a blog chronicling their adventures at: http://www.raisingmiro.com They have also started a podcast where Lainie and Miro speak candidly about their lives, their experiences, their viewpoints on the world on a weekly basis. Their podcast also includes interviews of many of the interesting people they meet along the way.  It's is inspiring to see how Lainie is raising Miro on the road of life and does so, fearlessly. 

Finally, when Lainie is asked if there a purpose to all this, she responds, “Is there a point to life? Some people say 'yes', some say 'no'. Some people believe it’s about doing something, maybe even creating value, giving, serving, making money or succeeding. In my opinion, it’s about all of those things and none at the same time. There is no point, other than living in the moment and being present  with yourself, with your child. We welcome all of these experiences and look for ways to find the gift in every situation. I realize, the nomadic lifestyle is our path to joy, so that’s exactly where you’ll find us living.”

Read more of the incredible story and regular podcasts of Raising Miro-
www.raisingmiro.com
www.facebook.com/RaisingMiroPodcast