Kevin

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Currently volunteering at an animal sanctuary in Northern Portugal until spring 🍃

Description

Hello, I’m Kevin! 😄👋🏼

I decided 8 years ago to start living a life of service as I became more and more aware of the injustices that are affecting this entire planet and its inhabitants (whether it being human or non-human animals, plants or microorganisms we’re all suffering the consequences).

Seeing speciesism as one of the root oppressions I mainly focused on animal welfare projects. I’ve lived and volunteered 2 months at an animal shelter in Spain (Scooby), 2 months at an animal shelter in Guatemala (Animal A.W.A.R.E.), 8 months at a bird rescue and rehabilitation center in Honduras (Macaw Mountain), 6 years at an animal sanctuary in Catalunya, Spain (Fundación El Hogar), and 5 months at an animal sanctuary in Portugal (Quinta das Águias).

I lived through a burn-out because of compassion fatigue during my last year at the animal sanctuary in Spain, resulting in the unfortunate decision to leave the project but the fortunate decision that led me deeper on my path of self-care and spirituality. After months of self-care, healing practices and some short term volunteer projects I felt rejuvenated and ready to go for the long run again. But this time with a new kind of awareness and consciousness keeping me in the present moment and connected to myself.

I enjoy learning from different philosophies like Buddhism, Taoism, … With these teachings in mind I reflect on the injustices we face in this world and this often leads me to the same root cause: the qualities of compassion, love and selflessness of humanity being buried under conditioned layers of indifference, apathy and selfishness. By every day again and again choosing compassion, love and selflessness and breaking those conditioned layers I want to make a difference, live by example and inspire others to do the same. That's why I believe it's key to contribute to socially committed projects that want to bring a positive change to this world.

I’m interested in joining projects for a mid- to long-term stay as in my experience it takes some time to settle in, get to understand the full scale of the project, get to know the community and make more long-lasting contributions. I prefer to opt for a 2-3 month initial commitment to feel how it flows (from the projects/community’s side and from my side) and extend the stay for more months if that's how we all feel like.

Some qualities that I enjoy to see in a project/community:
• Socially committed to bring a positive change to this world
• Self sustainable
• Aligned with nature
• Spiritually engaged
• Substance free
• Community driven/focused
• Non-violent / non-oppressive mentality

I have acquired quite some skills during my years of volunteering which I’m happy to share. I’ve listed the most important ones down below so please do have a look to see how I can contribute to your project!

If you feel that I might align with your project, don’t hesitate in reaching out and we can organize a call to have a chat and see how we align on interests, values, availibility, …

Thanks a lot for taking the time and interest for reading through my profile, and maybe speak soon!

Interests

Plant care

Languages

Camping

Vegetarian or vegan

Sustainability

Self development

Charity work

DIY & crafts

Carpentry

Yoga / Wellness

Nature

Mountain

Hiking

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: Intermediate
German: Beginner

More details about my language interests
Always happy to share knowledge and learn new languages

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Eco Projects

Charity Work

---

Able to teach about:  

General Maintenance

Animal Care

DIY and building projects

More details about your skills

♻️ Bioconstruction
I have a big passion for everything related to bioconstruction and recycling/upcycling materials. I’m very creative building with secondhand, leftover, and natural materials. I love it to puzzle all of these elements together and create something new. For bigger builds, I’m able to make technical drawings and calculations to get the foundations of the build all perfect before the freestyle and improvisation with the recycled/upcycled materials starts. To see what I've build, there's some pictures on my account and go to this link for more: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lMhTsoMV37rSNM9e7nmfXwPw6J5S8tSu

🪚 Woodwork
I’m a handyman who’s pretty skilled in (traditional/old school) carpentry. With a Japanese saw, a hammer, a chisel, and a pencil, I can make some nice builds. I’m also used to work with most mechanical saws, chainsaws, drills, …

👨🏼‍🏭 Metalwork
I’m good at welding and skilled with the grinder, so I can make a lot out of metal. I’ve installed gates, built wheelchairs for animals, built metal platforms for wooden houses, …

🪠 Plumbing
I installed complete bathrooms, I’ve built several compost toilets out of three trunks, I made a complete working sink out of a tree trunk, …

⚡Electricity
I have some good basic knowledge of electricity, so I’m able to solve quite a few electrical issues and do some basic electrical installations.

🧱 Masonry
I’ve built some nice walls with natural rock, and I’ve made some concrete floors, so I do have some experience in certain segments of masonry. I’ve never built a brick wall or tiled a floor, so in other segments I don’t have any clue.

🚜 Driving
I have driver’s licences A, B, and BE.
I have several years of experience driving tractors, trailers, and big vans (although I enjoy walking a lot more than driving).

📓Organization and planning
My brain works in a pretty analytical way, which means I’m good at organizing and planning tasks, keeping a good overview, and I'm good at problem solving.

👨🏼‍🍳 Cooking
I’ve been told many times that I'm a good cook, although since I’m living mainly on a raw vegan diet I hardly cook anymore.

Age

37

What else ...

✨ Reconnecting
I’ve found it impossible to live in a capitalist, stressed-out and ego-centered society, so for the past years I’ve been on a journey to go back to basics and reconnect more and more with nature, myself, and like-minded people.

❇️ Off-grid living
I like to live off-grid and in a self-sustainable way. For 6 years I lived in a community in the north Catalán mountains. For the past 2 years I have been mainly living in my hammock in the forests of the projects where I volunteered as I enjoy having a deeper connection with nature.

🎒 Minimalism
I live a minimalist lifestyle; I just have some basics that fit in my backpack for getting around. I found that joy comes from the little things in life, not from material stuff.

🪷 Yoga and meditation
On a daily basis I practice Vinyasa and Yin yoga and also Vipassana meditation. I feel like these practices benefit me a lot on different levels and I really enjoy them. I have a huge interest in learning and discovering more about yoga and meditation on my spiritual journey.

🍎 Healthy lifestyle
I don’t drink alcohol, I don't smoke, and I don't use drugs. I live on a vegan diet, mostly raw. I practice yoga and meditation for physical and mental well-being. Furthermore, I love hiking and climbing trees to keep myself in shape.

🍄 Foraging
I’m very interested in learning more about foraging. I have some basic knowledge, but I would really like to delve deeper into this topic to be able to provide for myself from what nature offers when being out in the mountains and forests.

🌳 Permaculture and food forests
I have some knowledge of gardening and growing fruits and vegetables. I would love to learn more about permaculture and especially food forests since these practices are in line with nature and don’t exploit the land.

㊗️ Languages
I like to learn in general, and I’m pretty fond of learning new languages in particular. The best way for picking up a new language for me is immersing myself in a local community where a particular language is spoken and just try to speak and learn from my mistakes.

☯️ Taoism and Tai Chi
For many years I have had the Taoist philosophy present in my life; at some point I really want to immerse myself more deeply into it and study it profoundly. I also would like to start learning Tai Chi whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Some more information

• 

  Smoker

• 

  Driver's licence

• 

  Allergies

• 

  Special dietary requirements
  🌱 I'm living and thriving on a (mostly raw) vegan diet