It’s no secret to anyone reading my blog that I’ve lived abroad for a long time. My entire adult life, to be specific. But last year I ended up moving even further away. I now spend a lot of my time in Malaysia. Many people ask me: “Why Malaysia?” While there is no one main reason, my chronic illness plays a huge role in that choice. My life as a chronically ill person is significantly better there. So here are five reasons my chronic illness helped me move abroad.
Five Reasons My Chronic Illness Helped Me Move Abroad
My Health is Much Better Here
Throughout the last 8 years of my life, there has been this weird phenomenon where going to Malaysia was the only way to get out of a big health crash was by going to Malaysia (and once to St Helena). It has happened so many times that I’ve spent months too sick to leave the house in Europe. I’ve then somehow taken a flight to Malaysia and bam, I can leave the house daily. So of course, I love it!
Although I don’t know why I get better in Malaysia, I know it happens. At some point, it became a no-brainer to move to a place where my symptoms are less intense. It means I can live a little more. Whilst I’ve got good at making the best of a life indoors, any chance at a healthier and more energetic life is one I am definitely going to take!
I Can Connect With Nature
Obviously, the UK has some beautiful nature, the Netherlands less so, but it is there. But the biggest problem is that when you can’t exercise to stay warm, it’s really only accessible in the summer. When I am in Malaysia, it’s accessible all year round. One of my theories for why I am so much healthier here is that I spend more time grounding and connecting to nature here.
Just to name a few things. The sun. I spend all my time outside while living on a tropical island. I get all the vitamin D, and I can spend my time in nature, with clean sea air, and I walk barefoot on the beach, I swim in the sea, and I float in waterfalls in the jungle. There is so much evidence out there nowadays that grounding and connecting with nature is incredibly good for your health. It regulates your nervous system, it boosts your immune system, heart health, and cognitive function; you name it, nature helps. Most importantly of all, it helps with mental health.
Community is More Important
In Amsterdam, and particularly in cities, community is really hard to get unless you are actively out and about. In Amsterdam, I only had a real community when performing comedy regularly. But as soon as I got too sick to perform, poof, it disappeared. I was left with a few close connections holding on. The UK and the Netherlands are much more individualistic countries. It’s every man for himself; people are less quick to connect, less quick to help each other, and spend more time self-actualising all their goals, without working on community, which is something that requires time and work.
Here, on the other hand, community is more important. There is a communal aspect to everything beyond the nuclear family. Large extended families, open houses, hanging out at friends’ workplaces, and supporting events created by friends are all things that are more important here.
As a sick person, this makes it much easier to see people when I am sick. People make an effort to swing by the house for a while, and people still try to include me in the community. It’s not the case that because I am no longer well enough to participate in everything, that I am no longer remembered, which is how it has felt in several communities I’ve been involved in in Amsterdam.
Hammocks
One word that says everything. Half the time I socialise in this country, I can lie down. There’s often a hammock around, or we are on the beach or in nature, or chilling on the floor. All perfect places to lie down and still be able to hang out. This is the dream for any person with POTs or anyone who is too tired to sit upright all the time. AMAZING.
Everything is Nearby
One of the things I love about being specifically on this island is that everything is nearby. Most of my friends live 5 to 15 minutes away by motorbike, the beach is 7 minutes, the nearest shop is 2 minutes away, and even the furthest waterfall and nature is 40/45 minutes away.
To put that into perspective, the friend I live closest to in Amsterdam is about 40 minutes away. That means there is no popping by to see someone on a sick day. I lived in the suburbs, which meant any time I wanted to meet anyone or go anywhere, unless they came to me, it was 40 minutes minimum there and the same back. Which uses up all of my limited energy just by sitting on the metro. So outings had to be rationed, and I was very lonely.
Nowadays, people pop by my house all the time, and I can swing by my favourite cafes, the beach or friends’ houses on mid-energy days and not just high-energy days. And that alone makes a huge impact on my health.
Why Specifically in Malaysia?
As an extra thing that I really love about Malaysia, and has been really refreshing after living in the Netherlands, is how much the people I meet here seem to want to connect. If you meet someone once, they might say, “message me if you are in Kuala Lumpur”, and when I am brave enough to do that, they almost always want to. I feel like people are warm and invite you to join in, and are genuinely interested in hanging out and getting to know you.
It feels like such a huge difference from the Netherlands, where you can know someone for years and they still don’t consider you friends. And as an added bonus, the language is not too hard to learn, even for someone with brain fog like me.
So while there are definitely some things I struggle with here, and I do still have a chronic illness, I am enjoying being here for more time and being able to live a little more than I have been able to for a while!
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