Hey y'all, my name is Mia.
I am an environmental chemist, geologist, activist, dancer, and explorer with an endlessly curious soul - originally from Southern Oregon. I am nomadic. I travelled the West in my van and lived in Washington, Montana, Utah. Then I lived in Aotearoa/New Zealand for over a year. I lived in my Ford Transit Connect for a year in the western US, and before that I lived in a Subaru and in a bus. My travels on the road began when I decided to take a semester off from school during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, I share my blog posts about the road. These include poems, journal entires, photos, short stories, and things that I have learned about myself and the world along the way. Follow the next adventures here: |
Ki UTA KI TAI
"from the mountains to the sea"
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Spring break in New Zealand began with windows rolled down and sunkissed skin; I jumped into the drivers seat of a tiny periwinkle blue car with three surfboards strapped on top, four of my best friends, and five over-packed backpacks. We sang songs and drove up the coast for two hours to the tiny coastal community of Kaikōura.
We arrived just before sunset and set up two small tents, making our camp along the beach. The beach here was made of dark gray and black cobblestone, the water the brightest blue, and the sky a salmon pink. Just to the north of our camp you could look along the coast and see a mountain range of snow capped peaks. Ki uta ki tai is the Te Reo Māori term that translates to ‘from the mountains to the tide,’ but is an all-encompassing concept for sustainability. Ki uta ki tai builds the foundations for sustainability and restoration work, it shapes policy in Aotearoa and provides a framework for environmental stewardship. In my classes in the U.S. I had heard of this concept as ‘from source to sink.’ Somehow the new Te Reo term captured the breadth and depth that I felt I had been absent from my prior environmental studies conversations. The sun went down over the mountains and I fell asleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore.
I awoke before sunrise and jumped into the frigid water, streaks of orange sunlight made the entire ocean sparkle and the sky was a brilliant pink - I plunged under the waves and popped up, opening my eyes to see the alpine glow on Tapuae-o-uenuku. Ki uta ki tai. The entire system is connected and I have a responsibility to the land, to the sea, to ensure the next generation can swim where I swim and eat what I eat, that the beauty of a place never be diminished by my presence. Kaitiakitanga - this concept is what my soul and spirit revolve around, why I wake up each day -
guardianship, responsibility, stewardship.
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Spring break in New Zealand began with windows rolled down and sunkissed skin; I jumped into the drivers seat of a tiny periwinkle blue car with three surfboards strapped on top, four of my best friends, and five over-packed backpacks. We sang songs and drove up the coast for two hours to the tiny coastal community of Kaikōura.
We arrived just before sunset and set up two small tents, making our camp along the beach. The beach here was made of dark gray and black cobblestone, the water the brightest blue, and the sky a salmon pink. Just to the north of our camp you could look along the coast and see a mountain range of snow capped peaks. Ki uta ki tai is the Te Reo Māori term that translates to ‘from the mountains to the tide,’ but is an all-encompassing concept for sustainability. Ki uta ki tai builds the foundations for sustainability and restoration work, it shapes policy in Aotearoa and provides a framework for environmental stewardship. In my classes in the U.S. I had heard of this concept as ‘from source to sink.’ Somehow the new Te Reo term captured the breadth and depth that I felt I had been absent from my prior environmental studies conversations. The sun went down over the mountains and I fell asleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore.
I awoke before sunrise and jumped into the frigid water, streaks of orange sunlight made the entire ocean sparkle and the sky was a brilliant pink - I plunged under the waves and popped up, opening my eyes to see the alpine glow on Tapuae-o-uenuku. Ki uta ki tai. The entire system is connected and I have a responsibility to the land, to the sea, to ensure the next generation can swim where I swim and eat what I eat, that the beauty of a place never be diminished by my presence. Kaitiakitanga - this concept is what my soul and spirit revolve around, why I wake up each day -
guardianship, responsibility, stewardship.
Stay tuned for the next adventure!