My Quarterlife Crisis Stretched Into a Midlife Crisis, and I Have No Clue How to Resolve It
Is this just a me thing — or is this the millennial condition?
Last summer, I booked a budget trip to Asia. I had some money to spare after a long and challenging freelance project, so when a friend proposed traveling together, I jumped at the chance. I needed to recover from burnout after spending so many years in a job that is neither my passion nor my dream, and the years I’d lived in China in my late-20s were some of the happiest of my life. I yearned to reconnect with that energy, revisit a part of the world where I once felt so whole and hopeful. Besides, recharging seemed like a good way to boost my productivity and find fresh inspiration. So I booked with budget airlines, checked only the tiniest of bags, rented bunks in hostel dorms (yes, dorms at age 39), and ate mostly at convenience stores.
All of which could’ve been a safe and sensible investment in myself.
… except that unexpected health issues made my trip pricier than planned. See, after 27 years of periods, I’ve bled my way to anemia. A travel medicine specialist explained upon my return to Berlin that the health issues that waylaid me in Asia were likely environmental exacerbations of my long-unsolved iron deficiency. Excellent.
