On Our Own Path

Notes From Our Global Life

The Truth about My Time in Myanmar

Written by Bessie about Myanmar. Feelin' thoughtful

If I don't sugar coat things, living in Myanmar (Burma) has been deeply emotional and challenging. Nearly, a year and a half ago, I took a non-profit job in Myanmar, sight un-seen, bringing my husband along for the adventure.

I've experienced some of the most rewarding highs running a not-for-profit program in Myanmar during a time of great change. And most days I'd fall hard from one of those highs to some of the lowest lows I've hit in my life, feeling isolated and overwhelmed. It's been an extremely vivid chapter in my life that I'm grateful for and may take a while to recover from.

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Elegance First: Myanmar Women's Hair Flowers

Written by Bessie about Myanmar. Feelin' happy

Women in Myanmar are strikingly elegant and poised in an environment full of challenge. I see them moving on and off buses in full length skirts (tamains) with matching blouses often carrying their lunches or a baby or a basket of cabbage to sell at the market, and some how they make it look effortless.

Many days, I've tried to follow suit in line after them attempting similar grace while climbing down from a bus or leaping over holes in the sidewalk, and I end up with my hair disheveled and with stains on my shirts, but somehow not them.

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Doing the Thing That Scares Us: Moving Home

Written by Bessie about Myanmar. Feelin' thoughtful

To sum up our story, we packed up in January 2008, 3 months after we got married, to go on a 1 year backpacking trip through Central & South America. More than 4 years later we're still out in the world, living as expats and traveling to another country every few months. We love it. And it's exhausting. We're ready to call it quits. And it scares us.

Last December, we told our loved ones that we'd be moving home in 2012. And then the panic set in. Kyle and I quickly started coming up with ideas to move back to Thailand, chase a dream in India, or move to Mexico or Croatia or Turkey or Vienna, or some place that wasn't home.

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