Moving won’t solve your problems like you think it will

I moved to Morocco 6 months ago from the United States and I thought my life would change dramatically. I was obsessed with “antiwork” and the idea that we’re all cogs in a vicious machine, and that I was breaking out of the cruel cycle. I thought my obsession with work and finances would change, thought the rapid pace would change, thought my anxiety would change. In my mind, all of my issues were external. My relationships, my job, my city, the weather, the political state, the traffic. If I change those things, my life will improve… right? ^{Right? Please say yes.}

But then I moved to a place that many would consider a beautiful vacation destination and… my problems stayed the same. Many problems massively increased. I brought with me my relentless pursuit of external validation, my anxiety, my social media preoccupation, and my insecurities. I was stressed out, but this time by the beach. I ended up realizing pretty quickly that moving won’t solve your problems, as it didn’t solve mine. I brought my problems with me, because they were reflected in my mindset and outlook, not in my location.

I think one of the things that attracts us so much to travel and relocating and wanderlust is not so much the travel, but the idea that we’re escaping what we perceive to be the roots of our problems. We think our problems are all external. But I think I’ve learned that there is no magical place that will cure your problems. Travel as a concept is just another form of consumption, and consumption can never substitute the internal work that needs to be done to find inner contentment and simplicity.

Unless you commit to the healing of your mental, spiritual and emotional health, you will not get better by moving to another country. You will not get better by buying a cottage in the woods in the middle of nowhere. There is no perfect place that solves all of your problems, and you’d be surprised at how many problems they have even in “better” places. In fact, there are so many people here in Morocco with so much less than we have in the United States by every conceivable metric, but their perspective is so much more grounded.

Honestly, now I find myself amazed at the things people in the U.S. find to complain about (myself included when I was there). There is so much unbelievable abundance in the states, and many people don’t even realize that they are complaining about things that people in other countries dream of having. Even things like clean water, environmental regulations, basic public services, sanitation systems, and access to healthcare. Yes, these things are expensive and complicated, but what if they disappeared?

We are planning a big move to another country in the next couple of months, and I catch myself going back to that same mentality. “Once we get there, we won’t have to deal with XYZ!” or “once we move, everything will get better!” But it won’t. Once again, moving won’t solve your problems if you refuse to work on them wherever you are. Relocating can’t cure anxiety and depression, no matter how tempting it is to hope that it will.

The human condition is pretty standard around the world. People work, go to the store, take a walk around the neighborhood, pay their bills, and complain about the government. If you aren’t happy where you currently are, you won’t be happy in [insert place you perceive to be better]. There’s nowhere in the world exempt from the normal day-to-day minutiae of life, and you will find variations of the same problem if you don’t change your perspective first.

Wherever you go, there you are.