Whatever your circumstances are, traveling the world can be considered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or a luxury for some. Despite this, it’s still possible for the exhilaration from seeing new sights and experiencing new culture to fall flat. After all, as mentioned, there are many reasons why one travels outside their home country.
For those who need to do this, whether it’s for a med internship or work overseas, it’s safe to say that these people are bound to be reluctant to leave. With that reluctance, fear may follow, then every negative emotion in the spectrum could surface, while the person stays longer in a foreign land.
Because of all this negativity lurking inside you, you might want to consider changing a few aspects of your life. And the best first step to take is to practice self-care. In a place where there’s always something going on, all of your energy is probably directed to keeping up with everything life throws at you. So, instead of dropping everything immediately, you can do small gestures that encourage self-care one step at a time.
1. Focus On Your Goals
With how hectic life can be, you’re bound to lose sight of why you’re there in the first place. What made you leave the comfort of your home to venture out into new territory? Why are you willing to start your life from scratch?
Before anything else, it’s highly recommended you write this down somewhere to organize your thoughts better. Now you got that out of the way, think of the reason behind your travel abroad. Once you’ve identified the root cause, branch out and break it down into pieces to approach all of it realistically. After all, setting your goal to ‘get a better education’ or ‘work in a better job’ can be extremely vague if you stop to think about it.
When you’re done, always bear in mind everything you’ve written down. Use this to guide you on your path to your goal. Never stop reminding yourself why you’re so far away from home despite every inconvenience and heartache. Before you know it, you’re picking yourself back up after getting thrown off by whatever negative emotions you’ve been experiencing.
2. Connect With The Locals
People can’t be completely independent, especially in a place so far away from home. Because not only are you supposed to get used to the new sights, but you’re also bound to receive the full brunt of culture shock if you didn’t prepare yourself before arriving at your destination. And recovering from culture shock all alone might take some time.
Since most humans tend to be social creatures, they function better when someone’s there to help them out. In a foreign place, you’ll need all the expertise you can have to get the hang of everything. But other than guiding you, taking the time to experience new culture could enrich one’s appreciation for life.
However, despite how ‘friendly’ the locals may seem, always be on your guard. Since you’re a fish out of the water, it’s a foreigner’s nightmare to attract unsavory figures that might take advantage of their ignorance. Therefore, having a relative or a friend there can be a tremendous help upon arriving. If you completely don’t know anyone there, hire a certified professional guide to show you around.
3. Pace Yourself
Living somewhere to fulfill one’s goal can be taxing if that’s the only thing on your mind. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’re disregarding the guide you wrote early on. However, rest is still crucial if you want to function smoothly. Every second you’re on foreign land doesn’t mean you’re obligated to work the entire time.
Knowing your limits is something you can apply in most aspects of life. Because by acknowledging your weak points, you’re learning to take yourself into consideration instead of completely disregarding your well-being.
4. Practice Mindfulness
Of course, pacing yourself may seem impossible, especially if you’re the type who wants to have results fall on your lap already. However, you can’t know your limits without taking the time to think about yourself—not in a selfish way, but in a more ‘self-aware’ way. It’s rare for people to be more self-aware, especially how busy life gets. But without it, you might get crushed by everything racing inside your head causing you to be anxious and depressed.
Failure is a heavy burden on anyone’s shoulders, along with the fear of disappointment and regret, among other things. By acknowledging your shortcomings, you can grow out of it to be better. But if failure continues to blanket your every move, you’re bound to falter underneath its pressure.
So, while shedding light on your failures is good, lingering there too long could cloud your mindset. Accordingly, you should balance out your failures with achievements. Even something as small as learning a new phrase is worth celebrating.
Always keep in mind to consider a different perspective in life to help you overcome negative emotions when you feel all alone.
Conclusion
Gears won’t run without getting oiled. With that logic, people are bound to break without any rest, and it doesn’t help how keeping all the negative emotions within yourself while living in a foreign land could actually help. It’s advisable to prioritize self-care when you’re in a foreign land. Therefore, as inspiring it is to be driven with purpose each day, taking a break once in a while can be just as helpful to your physical and overall mental well-being.
