Hi everyone! I (24 F from the US) moved to Europe for work at the UN when I was 22 and recently moved to Kenya to do humanitarian aid work in the field. I’m finding the lifestyle adjustment for this move a lot more difficult and feel my mental health suffering quite a bit, being so far away from all my family and friends. This job is unique in that I’m in a very rural area so its not as easy to build a community/support system as it was when I was in Europe.

I’ve always been someone who loves challenges and new adventures, and I was very disenchanted with life in the US - i’d travelled most of it already and worked briefly in a capital city but disliked it the corporate culture and wastefulness of America. I’ve committed myself to a career in international development and humanitarian work, and thought I would be happy bouncing around the world to any country. I still love travel and again, I love the challenge of adapting to a new place and learning a new culture but sometimes it gets so exhausting not having roots and can be very isolating. I miss my friends in Europe, I miss my family in the US, and I miss just knowing my way around and being confident in my environment. These days a part of me just wants to pack it all up, run home and be somewhere familiar, close to family, eating my favorite foods…

I struggle with being still in the US, but now im struggling with constantly being on the move. I think the ideal solution would be to move to a bigger city in Africa or back in Europe where I could feel more socially fulfilled. But I made a 1 year commitment to this organization and I do really believe in the work.

I guess I’m appealing to older expats who’ve maybe gone through similar experiences. What sort of things helped? Did you ever consider going back to your home country? If you did, did you regret it?

Ultimately I understand I have to figure out what’s right for me but as a young person who’s still figuring out her life, any guidance is always appreciated :)