# Advice for navigating low moments abroad

- **Episode:** [118](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/118.md) (2024-07-25)
- **Type:** interview
- **Tags:** coping strategies, expat lows, resilience
- **Time:** 22:18–25:31 (start 1338s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/118?t=1338](https://truthliesandwork.com/118?t=1338)

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[22:18] Nathan Cornwell: I really empathise with a lot of people that go through these lows because I know, as you're saying, that there can be real lows when you're abroad and you're away from family and friends and you haven't got those support systems around you. And I guess that's kind of something That's been a running theme for me in terms of the conversation we've had and also the research I've done. I think finding social support is going to be the best way to kind of bring you out of one of these lows. And there's different ways you can do that. You know, you can get on social media or you can find— Meetup is a really nice app that has lots of different groups that meet up for different reasons. Maybe it's a new hobby that they're learning. Maybe it's, you know, getting together as a book club. There's different things that they'll do. And this is one thing that I always encourage people that are sort of going through one of these troughs is once you're at a point where you feel like you can get out and try and socialise again, that's really a good way to help you enjoy the time that you're spending abroad. I guess now looking back at the experiences I've had, it's always been experiences I've had with other people that are the ones that sort of stick. So meeting these these individuals from different places sharing these different sort of crazy stories, if you like, has always been something that I've kept memorable. And I think in every place that I've been to, the first sort of group of friends that I've met have not always been people that I would imagine meeting. So until you actually go out and start coming to some of these events, you just never know who you're going to encounter. Who's going to become your best pal while you're away? You know, it's quite interesting looking back now. But yeah, I think that's one of the important aspects, is just knowing that. The other aspect, I mean, is just knowing that you can always come home to— again, speaking quite broadly, but just having that option to come back is really important. Again, going back to the research
[24:20] Al Elliott: Yeah
[24:21] Nathan Cornwell: I did during the pandemic, when that was shut off, that route was shut off, that was quite impactful on a lot of expats. So I think ensuring that that route is always available is something that is important. So just withstanding some of these troughs, if you like, but also knowing the peak is coming at some point once you've kind of overcome some of that cultural adjustment. If you're a recent expat, it's good to hold on to. I wrote a LinkedIn post a little while back about kind of the 4 different stages of cultural adjustment. I think, you know, you start off in this honeymoon phase where everything's new, you kind of find it exciting and curious, and then you go through one of these troughs where you start to realise you're not on holiday, you're actually having to live in that country and sort of struggle every day with the language, you know. And then it kind of gradually goes back up, you know, you start to adapt and you start to come a culture to that country. And I think once you've kind of ridden that wave, if you like, and really embraced the culture, then you're always going to cherish the time that you spent abroad and look back one day, at least I hope I will, and be quite proud of what I've done and what I've achieved working abroad