In February 2004, I arrived in Beijing, China for a study-abroad year, excited about all the interesting things ahead of me. What I never saw coming was that it would change my entire life’s direction, and that this city would eventually feel like home more than any other city in the world.
In March 2020, I left Beijing for a three week business trip, excited about all the interesting things ahead of me. What I never saw coming was that my work permit would be canceled without warning, barring me from returning to my home and my husband. I didn’t know I would never return to China, and that my husband and I would still be living on separate continents nearly three years later.
Read MoreEarly in my twenties, I married a grounded and reliable man who shared my growing faith. We bought a house, brought two children into the world, and started to put down our roots. But despite my desire for roots and security, our family was meant for a big international move. We knew this also meant lots of goodbyes, paring down favorite things, and sleeping in unfamiliar homes. Here we had worked so hard to build a life of constancy for our children, and now we were dragging them all over the country and then across the world, away from everything they had known. It was difficult for me, watching my children struggle with all the uncertainty. I wanted to create a life where they felt safe and secure – something far different than the life of loss and abandonment I had experienced in my own childhood.
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Transitionitis is a very common ailment affecting hundreds of travelers each year. It is caused by the change in routine brought on by transition, and anxieties (often underlying) relating to the unknowns of the new location and losses associated with leaving the current location.
SYMPTOMS
Wildly turbulent emotions
Unexplained tearfulness
Inability to sleep due to thoughts running away
Exhaustion and increased need to sleep
Upset stomach
Loss of appetite
Comfort eating
Mushy brain
Inability to think straight
Unexplained, unusual aches and pains due to emotional tension stored in the body.
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