The Myth of the Geographic Cure
Why traveling half way around the world won't help you escape your past.
THE WORK FROM BEFORE
The coolest thing about continuing to wake up on this beautiful and complex planet every day is that I get another chance to evolve and grow. As a human, a mom, a wife, a friend, an entrepreneur and more. My professional career has taken many turns. And one of them caught up to me this week.
I still have a paper from middle school where I wrote: When I grow up, I want to be A) A Runner B) A Nurse. (Spoiler: I don’t love either of these anymore).
Back in high school, I was your typical first-born, Type-A daughter. I worked hard to get straight A’s, and I literally cried when I almost got a B in a geology class.
I volunteered at the hospital and even held a mom’s legs back while she gave birth. I decided right then that babies were not my jam, but I was completely sold on a career in healthcare.
I started out pre-med in college but soon switched to nursing. The pre-med track felt dauntingly long, and I started to doubt my ability to live up to my own incredibly high standards.
So, I studied hard, passed the nurse licensure exam in the minimum number of questions required, and soon started my nursing career in the Air Force—the strategic way my parents ensured my college education was free.
I moved to California, and thanks to a wonderfully supportive group of fellow nurses in the exact same boat, we bonded fast. We supported each other through the trials of our nursing roles as well as our inevitable boyfriend drama.
Many of our medical patients were elderly retirees. I still remember a sweet old woman from France sipping champagne that her husband had snuck into her room during one of her last days. Another patient in oncology was younger than me; she lost her battle with breast cancer.
Like many of my friends during that time, I was soon deployed to Afghanistan. In the medical ward, the majority of my patients were Afghan children healing from limbs lost to landmines, or Afghan adults with severe shrapnel wounds. A toddler we named Elmo had burns covering 39% of his body; he spent three months with us. I still wonder where he is today.
The occasional Taliban prisoner needed care, too. U.S., Australian, and European patients came through our hospital as well, though they were quickly evacuated to their home countries for long-term care.
I returned from Afghanistan broken.
But I kept going. I worked in oncology, then moved to Germany to work in primary care. I logged long days while dreaming up our weekend travel plans. After leaving the Air Force, I traveled for a year, eventually returning to work as an inpatient oncology nurse and research assistant while graduating with a Master’s in Public Health. After another half-year of traveling, I worked in health education, camp nursing, remote nursing during COVID, and a few other roles.
THE WORK WHEN IT CATCHES UP TO YOU
One of those roles was as a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner), assisting teenage patients who had experienced sexual assault.
The role was “on call.” Sometimes, I was summoned to the hospital at 1:00 AM to provide care to a patient in desperate need. In those moments, I was thankful my training and experience could support them as they navigated such a horrific time. Still, incrementally, the trauma of others wore on me.
I quit before we moved to Spain. I needed to step away from the profession entirely and moving abroad gave me the ‘excuse’ to do that. In fact, I gradually quit almost all my jobs and sought a new path in a new country.
But still, they find me.
As a SANE, part of your role is to collect evidence. This evidence may eventually be used in a trial where you can be subpoenaed to testify. That is what happened this week.
They paid for me to fly back to Colorado. Three years after managing this specific case, I testified at the trial. The patient was in the stands. The alleged perpetrator was sitting at the defense table. A jury of twelve citizens listened to a week’s worth of testimony, dragging this patient’s trauma out into the light all over again.
I was warned that the defense attorney was “mean.” She was. Let me tell you how much I hate dealing with the legal system. I like to think most people are inherently good. This work reminds me that isn’t always true.
I realize now that over 20 years of experience in a field can ultimately mean nothing. I don’t know if I will ever want to work as a nurse again. I feel like I give so much of myself in other areas of my life that I just can’t do it professionally anymore.
I guess I am feeling some of that “millennial career confusion” that keeps popping up on social media. I have always appreciated the chance to evolve and grow, but there is also a real fear of the unknown.
It feels unrooting to realize that the past work I’ve done is no longer an option for the future me.
Well, what is? Podcasting? I love it, but… Travel planning? I love it, but… Money coaching? I love it, but…. I love personal finance but is it enough?
Maybe for today, I just need to sit with these feelings. I can’t wait to get back and hug my family. I am determined to make this a summer of magic for my kids and me. Simple magic. Minimal travel, but lots of outdoor time. A chance to reset. To reconnect.
The possible work of my future can wait.
About Worldschooling Mama Network
We’re seven worldschooling mothers sharing our journeys of family, travel, and entrepreneurship. Each week, one mama pulls back the curtain on life on the road — stories of adventure, curiosity, and the messy, beautiful realities of raising children while building lives and businesses beyond the default. Our mission is to inspire, connect, and show that your “someday” can become a “when.”
Learn more about us and meet all seven mamas →
Thanks for reading 💛
Subscribe for free to receive posts from each of us in the coming weeks—and to stay connected to this growing network of worldschooling mamas finding our way together.