Stage 13: Healed

Healed

The Episode 

Trigger Warning: This episode does contain thoughts of suicide. 

It is easy to ignore the ailments that were born at home. 

We think that our anxiety, our shortness of breath, our weakness is just how we are. 

Sometimes we don’t even know we are sick until we have left our homes. 

But new environments have ways of pushing our strength. 

Of highlighting how we need to heal ourselves.

We can see how adaptable our bodies are in new territories. 

When we travel, we get over the limitations our bodies and minds put on us. 

We see what we can and cannot do without sacrificing our joy and need to travel. Travel can help us see what pieces need to be put back together. 

We discuss:

Why traveling can be healing 

How to heal yourself with travel 

How to handle travel anxiety 

How to handle anxiety and depression while traveling 

How to travel while disabled 

How to travel while deaf 

What to do if your colloquia implant breaks while abroad 

How to get over travel anxiety 

How to travel with a disability 

How to make the most when you travel with a disability 

Why traveling can heal us 

How traveling can help us love our bodies 

Self love 

How to accept our bodies 

How to love our bodies 

How to put our strength to the test 

How traveling can show you the bigger picture 

Why traveling can help you love your body 

How to self sooth 

How to practice self care while abroad 

What to pack to self sooth while abroad

Guests: 

Obligatory Traveler

While hiking up steps in Belize, Sarah found herself out of breath. She was young; she was fit, this shortness of breath didn’t make sense. It wasn’t until she went to her doctors that they told her unimaginable news and 

Sarah is the creator of the Obligatory Traveler. Read about her travel musings across America and beyond. 

Find Your Shine

Nina has always been anxious. And getting stuck in an elevator in Italy for 40 minutes as an 11-year old didn’t help. She loves traveling but sometimes has paralyzing anxiety, especially around small spaces. Elevators, bathroom stalls, airplanes, anywhere with narrow walls and limited range of motion can set her off. But Nina has been mindful about her healing journey. She has armed herself with the tools to battle her anxiety when it kicks in abroad.

 The Deaf Traveler 

The first noise Ed heard made him scream. Ed was born with a hearing disability and was treated when he was five. But although he has always had to rely on his friends and family to help him get around, he also had an itch to travel. But he needed other people to do that with...right? 

So when no one would travel with him, Ed decided to put himself to the test. He quickly learned that there would be challenges that he alone would only face but also experience the hiccups that every traveler has. 

You can read about Ed’s travels and experiences on his blog the Deaf Traveler

Tiny Globetrotter 

Faby didn’t know she was in pain. It wasn’t until she left her home in Puerto Rico to be stationed in South Korea that the pain became excruciating. After a drastic move, she was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Some nights her mental illness would swarm over her light a hive of bees, making it impossible to think or do anything. But she knew that traveling helped her get out of her head. It showed her that she is part of something much larger and found a way to quiet the enraged voices in her head.

Read her stories and travel tips at Tiny Globetrotter.

Strangers Abroad is a travel podcast hosted by solo female traveler and storyteller, Adrien Behn. Strangers Abroad is ‘ This American Life’ for travel. Each show we bring you a theme and multiple perspectives on that theme. Each theme is a stage we experience when we travel and dissect it from every angle to make our listeners travel richer. 

Adrien Behn