Hi, I’m Kevin.

Life’s taken me in all different directions.

I grew up in New York City and graduated from Cornell University studying international development and environmental science. During my studies I was able to intern all over the world and got a taste of the nomadic lifestyle.

Because of that, I ended up traveling and doing a lot of things that sometimes make it hard to form a coherent narrative of my life. I’ve worked as a botanical illustrator for a historical site in NYC, an agriculture researcher for the United Nations in Central Africa, a web designer for a small tea farm in Japan, a chef at a fine dining restaurant in Australia, and now as a consultant for an international development organization in Indonesia.

I’m almost Indonesian.

It’s funny where life takes you sometimes. I was born in Jakarta, Indonesia but fled to the United States when mass violence swept the country in 1998. I didn’t have much interest in Indonesia until I attended a museum exhibition in college where a Caucasian Canadian was playing a traditional Indonesian instrument, the gendèr. He turned out to be a teacher, I took his Indonesian music class, and all of the sudden found myself taking Indonesian language lessons too. Fast-forward a couple years and now I’m now back in my birth-city, Jakarta. Full Circle!

I say I’m Almost Indonesian because I grew up with American, Chinese, and Indonesian culture all mixed-in. I grew up eating rice with a spoon and fork, chopsticks, and sometimes my hands. In Indonesia, I identify more as American, while in America I identify more as Indonesian; but in both places people still point out that I look Chinese.

I’ve struggled with my cultural identity as a third culture kid, but now I’ve grown pretty comfortable being a chameleon of sorts — always floating somewhere in between.

I like to eat, make things, and think about stuff.

I like to draw, watercolor, play the ukulele, take photos, shoot arrows, read books, make things with my hands, interpretive dance, organize, cook, and eat delicious food. I’m especially good at the last one.

I live inside my head most of the time; constantly comparing, contrasting, analyzing, dissecting, and questioning things about myself, others, and the whole world in general.

Writing helps me make sense of it all.

Nothing organizes thoughts better than having to communicate them to others in a coherent manner. Writing forces me to take all that jumbled mess, reflect upon it, and evaluate it against set values and beliefs. In the process, I always learn something new!

This site serves as a repository for my creative endeavors, travel photography, and (sometimes coherent) thoughts. Hopefully I’ll be able to provide a fresh perspective on development, share some philosophy, and give a taste of a road less traveled. Come take a look!

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