It was on my forth day of high fever as I went to the doctor for a blood test. Since I lived in tropical Indonesia, I needed to find out if I had caught a virus of Dengue, Malaria or another exotic disease. The doc smiled at me and said that my blood panel looked fine. Nothing serious. Just as like the 2 other fever attacks that I had experienced in the previous 3 months… That´s good, but why on earth do I get sick so often and so hard? “You seem to be too exhausted”, he said, “Relax for some days and take better care of yourself in future!” Take care of myself – these words reverberated in my mind as I left.
Extra self-care while living abroad
This doctor visit is almost 10 years ago and today I know: If you live in a different country, you need to care of yourself more than usual. The challenges you face are different than back home and they are more in number and often much heavier.
Everyday you face extraordinary situations – may them be extraordinary exciting or stressful.
Everyday you bridge gaps between your expectation of “normality” and that what you meet around you.
Everyday you are busy learning about, negotiating with, adjusting or resisting to issues of the environment and local culture.
These efforts drain a lot of energy from your personal battery – not only in the beginning, but also still after having lived for years in the foreign country. And they can simply make you sick.
Awareness of Energy Thieves is the first step
The problem that many expats face is that they are not aware of that. Myself (as you can see from the example above) as well as uncountable fellow expats that I have met during the past years suffered from physical and mental exhaustion without realizing that their life of being an expat itself contributes to it. Living an expat life IS special. And the things that make it special are ironically those that demand so much of your physical and mental strength – often less consciously. I call these extraordinary issues “Energy Thieves”. Let´s have a look at them:
Cultural differences
One major reason of moving abroad is to experience life in a new culture. Indeed, living in another culture enriches your life: Different people. Exotic sounds, scents, tastes. A new, colorful environment! How exciting!
But there is another kind of cultural differences that make life abroad challenging. For example…
The way people socialize.
The way they make friends.
The way people deal with time.
The way they behave in everyday traffic.
The way people run a project.
The way they deal with a problem.
The way they discuss and negotiate issues i.e. in a team meeting.
Not to forget that the people around you might speak a different language. You don´t always understand them and they don´t always understand you.
These and many more cultural differences cause continuous confusion – not necessarily apparent, but rather slight like white noise. You are always busy with trying to understand situations. You constantly try to figure out the intentions of the people next to you who have a totally different way of looking at things. You spend efforts of either adjusting to the different culture or resisting to it. You negotiate cultural values all the time. You waste concentration and lots of headspace, short: ENERGY, by just living a “normal” day abroad – no matter if at work or at home.
Even after years, although you feel like being adjusted to all those things, unconsciously you are still bridging cultural gaps every single day in every single situation.
In my opinion, cultural differences are the No. 1 Energy Thieves. Not only because they often remain unconscious in everyday expat life. But also because culture goes deep into your heart: Cultural differences hold up a mirror to you and question your long life proven system of values and basic assumptions. That´s why they make you easily feel offended or embarrassed, angry or fearful, insecure or nervous. This means stress and it requires much energy!
Natural environment & climate
If you are moving from a warm Equator close country to the Northern hemisphere you will immediately feel how the cold weather pulls energy out of your more and more freezing body (and how hungry you become). A different climate can cost you a lot of physical energy. Not only that: Sometimes expats also waste mental energy by complaining about the climate conditions. And then it makes no difference, if you are a freezing Asian in Northern Europe or a sweating and breathless European in tropical Asia…
Immediate environment
You know what I love most about my life at home in Germany? Going by bike everyday and everywhere in almost all weather conditions. Now, I live in Indonesia, to be exact: in Java, the most populated island of the world with the most crowded streets. Going by bike here is freakin´ dangerous! No matter how big or small the path is that I choose, there are always motorbikes racing past. If your immediate environment cannot provide the conditions that you need to engage in your hobby or to simply live “normally” in your view, it can also become an Energy Thief. This can hit you double: Not only that your environment is different than the one you are used to, it even makes it impossible to do that what you need for living a balanced life: Your physical workout, your hobbies.
There might be a few more Energy Thieves depending on the country you live in and the discrepancy to where you come from. The point is: Being aware of them is the first step to prevent you from physical exhaustion and psychosomatic symptoms.
Then, in a next step continue to create your personal Expat Self-Care Program to recharge your battery. Keep your body, mind and soul in balance! It will be easier for you to deal with any challenges that your life abroad keeps ready for you.
Let me know what condition of your expat life drains much of your energy and what do you do to care for yourself abroad. Leave a comment below and please, don´t forget to give me thumbs and share the article if you like it! Thank you!
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