Health & Wellness Abroad
By its very nature, traveling takes you out of your normal, day-to-day routine. Such a disruption can potentially threaten your health and wellness. If you’re in a different time zone, then your circadian rhythm needs to readjust (jet lag is no joke!).
In a new setting, it is important that you attend to your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental well-being. What coping strategies work best for you, and how can you implement them while abroad? What prescriptions do you need to take with you? How can you fill those prescriptions while abroad?
Did you know that the University of Michigan has developed a free app called Entrain that uses your lighting history, activity, and heart rate to recommend schedules of light and dark that help you adapt to new time zones?
Did you know that mood and food go hand in hand? While abroad, make a point to eat high-quality foods containing lots of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants. That means avoid eating too much fast food even if it’s the cheapest and most accessible option. Even if it’s unfamiliar, your host country’s diet will be much better for you than McDonald’s.
It’s the end of your first month in Japan. Even though you’ve studied Japanese for two semesters at UNC, you find it extremely difficult to communicate. You barely know anyone, so you find yourself watching TV in your flat all the time. To make matters worse, several weeks of eating Japanese cuisine and fast food has made you miss your mom’s home cooking…a lot.
Feelings of stress, anxiety, and isolation are often symptomatic of culture shock. According to testimonies in a 2016 article, quite a bit of frustration can follow the initial honeymoon stage of living abroad. At the outset of your trip, you should anticipate such challenges and, importantly, determine some coping mechanisms. Challenge yourself, for example, to get plugged in to a local sports league. Create a robust social media platform to keep you connected to community.
While you are abroad, it is critical that you take care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally. If you take medication for anxiety, for example, you will need to…
Depending on the nature of your global experience, you may find yourself in a foreign land knowing next to no one. That reality can be exhilarating and empowering, or it can be overwhelming, isolating, and ultimately debilitating. If you find your mental health deteriorating, know that there are dependable resources: ???
