What is a TCK?

A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a term which loosely defines individuals who have grown up in a culture (or multiple cultures) different to that of our parents' culture, for a significant part of our lives. This often means living with one (or more!) culture/s at home that is different to the one your friends and colleagues practice when you step outside your door.

What is TCK TOWN?

TCK TOWN is a digital magazine that publishes stories about TCKs, for TCKs.

We're a remote volunteer team of 7 "from" Pakistan, Tokyo, Canada, the US, Australia, Dubai and the UK (so far!). The team is divided up into editors, writers, and content managers. We all work together to write, publish, and promote 4-8 articles a month on a TCK related topic.

Our articles are mainly very personal accounts of our own TCK experiences and what we've learned from them: we feel this is the best way to support other TCKs, rather than writing instructional content. We're hoping to empower TCKs about your cultural backgrounds and to show you that you are not alone.

Who runs this publication?

I'm Ava, a TCK who was born in Sri Lanka and has lived in Bahrain, Dubai, Tokyo, Melbourne, Tasmania, and now Sydney.

Discovering that I was a TCK was a revelation that helped me answer so many questions about myself. I felt passionate about starting TCK TOWN in the hopes it would reach others who didn't yet know they were TCKs, and provide answers if they were also confused about their identities.

During the day, I'm an Art Director/Graphic designer: TCK TOWN is a behemoth of a passion project that I try to make time for when I'm not working. It's been incredibly rewarding!

***Update***

We’re currently taking a 12-month breather from publishing weekly articles, and will be back around June 2022. We have 5 years worth of incredible stories that you can still read and fall in love with though! Our team is still in touch and is collaborating on some cool ideas for next year. In the meantime, please comment and share our content to support our writers. We’ll be back!

Welcome to our TCK family.

-
Ava Senaratne 
Editor-in-Chief
(From Sri Lanka, Dubai and Australia. Living in Sydney — for now!)