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Mental Health | Reparenting

Moving Abroad Saved My Life

The space away from my family allowed me to start therapy and my reparenting journey

Jenn L.
Invisible Illness
Published in
8 min readAug 12, 2024

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Photo: My Parisian Apartment

I had a one-way Norwegian airline ticket from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport in Paris, France. Holding onto my two full-sized check-in suitcases and my passport which contained my French visa, I made my way through TSA PreCheck to Tom Bradley International terminal. I had packed my electric port adapters, ear plugs, travel credit card (Chase Sapphire Reserve), trusty North Face backpack, and HydroFlask. I planned to attend HEC Business School where I had been accepted for a Master’s program. The program lasted one year. After that, I figured I’d plan based on how I felt…

I began my reparenting journey when I moved abroad. I had just gone through an abrupt breakup, every interaction with my family was difficult, and I felt I wasn’t getting anywhere with my job. I knew I was not happy with the direction of my life and I had to change my trajectory. Moving abroad allowed me to start over again with a clean slate. I got space from my family and their expectations and pressure like never before. My parents and grandmother couldn’t call me often due to time zone differences and expensive international calling rates. Calls…

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Invisible Illness
Invisible Illness

Published in Invisible Illness

Medium’s biggest mental health publication

Jenn L.
Jenn L.

Written by Jenn L.

I write about my experience as a second generation Asian American, mental health, and female empowerment. Contact me at https://jenniferinparis.weebly.com

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