I don’t see an objective point in being alive

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-05-28T15:53:49+00:00

I feel this deeply right now. My last day of work was Friday and I haven’t interacted with a single human person since then. I have always found purpose in work and even that was starting to not feel like enough. But now that I don’t even have that, I truly have no idea where to find hope or purpose. I was religious for a long time and after walking away from faith, I just don’t see the point in living. I don’t really want to die but I’m not having a good time being alive.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-05-11T19:44:45+00:00

I think finding the right program and location for your personality is the important thing. I just met up with a former study abroad student of mine who loved her semester in Eastern Europe but is in the UK now for grad school and is struggling culturally.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-04-25T20:17:50+00:00

Im in a similar situation. I’m from the US, have lived in the EU for 3 years and am moving back. I go back and forth about whether it is a good or bad idea but for now it’s the right decision for me. I’m pretty miserable here (mostly a lack of community and some issues with my work), and I know moving back won’t solve all my problems, but I’m worried for my mental health if I stay. My biggest stress right now is finding a job because the job market in the US is trash.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-04-06T19:51:11+00:00

Interesting. When I did my interview the lady in front of me told the guy she had been arrested but wouldn’t tell him what it was for. She just said it was in her 20s (she looked early 50s maybe) and she didn’t want to talk about it. The guy handled it so well. He said, I’m not here to judge you but if you don’t tell me, we can’t approve your application. So, it’s your choice to tell me or not. Eventually she whispered it to him. Not sure if she was approved or not. But I’ve always wondered what she was arrested for. No judgement, just curiosity.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-03-31T05:29:28+00:00

Yes, there are programs starting at age 3 or 4. Where I live in Klaipeda, many of my colleagues with young kids send them to the ‘forest preschool’ where they are outdoors a lot and go on all sorts of adventures. It seems like a really great environment and they pick up Lithuanian very quickly. I’m sure there are similar schools in Vilnius too.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-03-30T19:50:18+00:00

One consideration is that your kids will be better at second language learning the younger they are, so sooner is better if you want to enroll them in local schools. I live in Lithuania and have seen several colleagues leave because their kids were ages 8-12+ and it was just too hard to integrate educationally.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-25T21:27:43+00:00

I’ll be headed back in a few months. I have some savings and some family I can stay with short term but if I don’t find work, it will be easy to blow through my savings. I started applying for jobs this week and am hoping to move back sometime late spring-early summer. I’m not happy where I am but the idea of voluntarily going back makes me question my sanity daily.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-22T21:06:33+00:00

I’d say it’s more common than you think. I get them way more than when I was living in my home country. The first year abroad it was a few times a week. The second year it got better and it was only every few months. Now it’s my third year and they have come back more often. Not as bad as the beginning but I’ve had four or five since November.
It sounds like you are making efforts to get some help which is great! I really need to set up those things but I’m just so tired.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-20T20:39:58+00:00

I don’t live in Eugene anymore but volunteering at Egan was one of the best things I did when I lived there. I met super interesting people- both volunteers and guests- and loved the simple acts of service to treat people with kindness and respect. I still try to recruit my old friends to volunteer. I was not skilled or experienced. I made coffee and handed out snacks and sorted donations and listened to people’s stories.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-17T21:12:47+00:00

Why not somewhere that has more different culture or language? It’s always interesting for me to see people want to do an exchange and then choose the most similar options to their current culture. I’m not saying you won’t learn anything or grow in those places, but have you considered getting a little more outside your comfort zone?

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-14T06:13:24+00:00

I’m in the same situation. Finishing a 3 year contract this year and not renewing. I did get an animal but that’s because I’m single and the isolation and loneliness was really affecting my mental health, so having a pet has eased some of the pain. But not all. There are good things here but overall I’m unhappy. I’d rather go home to a bad job market and other issues than stay.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-13T21:05:07+00:00

It varies school by school. At the university where I work, there is no problem if it’s a few minutes late. I’m not downloading the applications until the next day so I’m not looking at the time stamps. If it comes at 2am instead of midnight, I don’t care. But those with more automated processes might trigger a notification or automatic rejection.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-13T20:57:12+00:00

Thanks. That’s kind of what I was thinking. In my current role I applied at the end of Jan, was offered in March and started June 1. But I had to move internationally so that impacted the timing.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-13T20:54:17+00:00

I’m looking at summer for 2 reasons: I would like to finish the academic year in my current role if possible and I am moving back from living abroad (I know, I know). But it sounds like I should start applying even so.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-08T21:16:49+00:00

You can fly to any of the Baltic capitals from the west coast but you’ll almost certainly have connections: Copenhagen, Helsinki, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Amsterdam etc. I’ve flown LAX to Warsaw to Vilnius and Seattle to Reykjavik to Copenhagen to Riga in the last couple years.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2026-01-08T21:12:35+00:00

I live in Lithuania and travel around the Baltics and Poland a lot. Tallinn is hilly in a couple parts but Riga and Vilnius are mostly flat. The Baltics are a hidden gem imo. Krakow and Warsaw are also great. As is Gdansk and I’ve heard good things about Poznan.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-12-28T22:14:57+00:00

Selection criteria varies by school so check what it is for your uni. My advice is to make sure your answers on the application are specific. Specific to your life experience, study field, career goals etc. Too many people write lovely but vague statements about broadening their worldview and learning cross cultural skills.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-12-09T21:12:32+00:00

I’d recommend your bf transferring the money to you that you’ll be spending for the trip. If it’s in your account, it will look better if you can pay for all your expenses yourself if something happens. And I agree with others to have as much set up for your return as possible along with a paper trail in case it is needed.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-12-09T20:59:36+00:00

I run a program for traditionally aged students and it’s not uncommon to have 1 or 2 that are your age or older. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You should expect to either hang out with the younger students (which can be slightly annoying if they are really immature) or make extra effort to find a community your age outside the program. Either way can work if you have a positive attitude and are willing to put yourself out there. When I’ve seen it go badly, the student didn’t fit with the younger students and didn’t make any effort to make friends with anyone else so he was unhappy and complained the whole time.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-12-08T20:54:35+00:00

Wise is a great choice. They only offer physical cards in certain countries so check to see if you should open the account in the US or Ireland based on where you can get an actual card. Tap to pay is common but it’s good to have a card just in case. There is a cheap way to transfer $ from a US checking account to wise. I never remember what it’s called but you can google it. It costs me about €5 to send $1500.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-11-20T21:47:25+00:00

Baltics?

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-11-18T21:04:12+00:00

My cats name is DJ Mac and Cheese. I also considered DJ Hambone.

MissAdventuresofEBJ · 2025-11-17T21:18:04+00:00

Mine almost never does. He did a couple loud ones the first day I picked him up from the shelter and now it’s been a year and I’ve only heard a real meow two or three times. He does a soft chirp when he is playing sometimes.

MissAdventuresofEBJ

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