How I Practice Self-Care Living and Working Abroad
I was first bitten by the international travel bug at age 21, when I went to study abroad at The University of Amsterdam. I loved traveling around Europe, experiencing new-to-me cultures, and having the ability to soothe my depression and anxiety with legal, high-quality weed.
I loved the anonymity that life in Amsterdam provided me. Being immersed in a different culture gave me freedom and license to not only enjoy new experiences but life there gave me an opportunity to see life from other people's perspective. As a person who is always striving to learn, I knew that if I wanted to gain as much knowledge as I can about the world, travel needed to play a big part in my life.
Nearly two years after graduating from undergrad, I decided it was time to leave America again. In the end I decided on a "gap year" of sorts teaching English abroad. After a few months of applying, I landed a job teaching primary school kids at an English language camp in Daegu in South Korea.
Almost immediately things started to go south, and I felt totally overwhelmed. There was no real training for my job, which made me very anxious as a first-time teacher. I had also underestimated the stress of living on campus — in the mountains — surrounded by a revolving door of new Korean kids to get to know each week. Besides work and life issues, adjusting to a culture so different than the Western one I was used to was also daunting. I had always dealt with depression and anxiety, but being so far out of my element sent me into even more of a tailspin.
The following year I moved to Shanghai, thinking that a better job in a more metropolitan city would be the answer to my struggles. Spoiler alert: It wasn't. It would take a few more years of crippling depression before I finally took control of my life and started making the changes I needed to thrive in the lifestyle I chose. Here's what I do now to take care of my mental wellness while living outside of the US.
Head over to Business Insider to check out my tips for being the best you, while out in the world.
