Comments on: 6 Ways to Stay Sane While Living Abroad

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Hello Nelleke, thanks for you wonderful comment. As a guy, I do take it for granted that I can walk around strange places with few worries. Great to hear a gal’s perspective on all this.

By: Nelleke

Nelleke — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 05:07:00 +0000

Hi Emily, I can fully understand your feelings and I can tell you and Seth that it IS totally different when you are on your own and a female. I have been traveling a lot by myself in the past years and am living and working in Cambodia for a year now. I am enjoying it, but I see the difficulties as well.

Seth’s suggestion of finding a boy/girlfriend is not really an option for me because I don’t want to have a boyfriend abroad. Friend’s is a different matter, although I found out I have to be so much more careful with what I do and say, because guy’s will see any friendly word as a suggestion that I am (romantically) interested in them, while I am not. This has been a problem with a lot of guys I have met here and stopped me from seeing them again. A shame! Most of my friends here are single females. We understand each other better because we are in the same situation.
Some of the things that help me: my current network of expats, so I have somebody to talk to about what happens to me in this country and in my work. I work for an English volunteer organization and they have a lot of other people working here as well, so we have a common ground. There are also a lot of NGO’s working here with a lot of expats who like meeting new people. Just walking around in a park or on the street in a city can help to meet new people. Have lunch or a drink somewhere – you will see that people will contact you. The funny thing is that it is easier to get contact with people when you are by yourself than when you are with two. People like to extend their networks abroad, so it is not so difficult but you have to come out of your room………
Skyping with my friends at home helps a lot because they know me the best and can help in times of great doubts. Having a great place to live is the most important for me. Better to spend a bit more money on a good place and feel at home when you are at home, than stay in a dump. Treat yourself sometimes with food you know and love- like cheese for me, which is expansive but makes me feel sooooo much better during bad times

I hope this helps a little bit and I hope you will start to enjoy your experience more after you get more used to the place you are in. Sometimes it just takes time…….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:32:00 +0000

Emily, I’m sorry to hear that you’re not enjoying yourself much. This experience can be overwhelming and at times awfully lonely.

During the first few months we lived in Korea, my wife had a hard time. However, she eventually got built a circle of friends; they started doing day trips every week or two and meeting up with about the same frequency. Once she had built a little network, she began to enjoy herself.

Maybe the same could work for you. Just a thought.

Good luck!

By: Emily

Emily — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Hi. I’ve actually been living abroad for 2 months and quite honestly…..I don’t like it. I mean, I love that I am doing this experience and will be so proud to talk about it when I get home, but doing it is so hard. Your list makes sense and seems nice, but I don’t like drinking or going out to bars, especially since I’m a solo female traveler. I’ll try to do this, but I just like your point that there’s so much more time to focus on myself. Because of it, I have had time to think about my life goals and what it is that I want to do when I return home.