About

Raak is a Thai word. Depending on how you say it, it can mean love or root. I first came to Thailand in my twenties. My Thai wasn’t good enough to catch the difference in tone and vowel length, so I just thought it was a homophone.

Back then I was a farmer. The original idea for this writing project was to document that life. Root notes; a record of a life growing from the land.

That life ended. Abruptly. Some would say I lost everything.  I would say I was blessed with everything.

I’ve been passing through a lot of places since then. I went from homesteader to nomad.

The notes stayed, but the meaning shifted. Root notes became love notes; stories from the new dream life I am building. Reflections on mind, body and bread. Accounts of the mornings where something clicks and the afternoons where nothing does. Misadventures around Asia, lessons learned in Latin America, and musings from wherever in the world I find myself.

I’m from Oahu, Hawai’i. I’ve been a farmer, a builder, and a student of things I’m still figuring out. This blog is where I write about what it actually looks like to live my dream.

If that sounds like something worth reading, stick around.

— Niki