depression help: I’m ‘backpacking’ in Europe, but I’ve lost motivation. - Help.com

If you are contemplating suicide, hurting yourself, or you are seriously depressed: please, seek professional help!

Call this hotline (1-800-273-8255) operated by our friends at the
Suicide Prevention Lifeline, anytime, for free, professional, and
confidential assistance. While other Help.com users are likely to reply
to your post, please make sure you understand that your use of Help.com
falls under our TOS.

Note: I’m a robot that the Help.com staff created. If this response is in error, I apologize, please ignore it.

Stay in Spain for a while, have some fun with people. If your lonely find some friends.

Sir Rowass is right. Stay in Spain and if you don’t want to stay in Barcelona, try the south part, full of life with lovely people and hospitality. Just watch your pocket.

Barcelona is my favourate spanish city. Stop moving around for a while. Kick back and take time out to meet some new people. If you truly want to meet lovely people go to Greece the islands are beautiful. Just take some time and relax traveling can become a complete strain and no pleasure at all. Some of the ferries traveling between islands can take hours plenty of time to meet others to keep in contact with. How beautiful is Barcelona!! and the market is amazing eh!

stop running away and try to fiond solace in yourself
the only thing that can hold you back is your own misgivingings
and self doubts.
every new place is a chance to start fresh. jsut start as yourself
and not a dobbleganger.
‘the sweet just aint as sweet, without the bitter’
kudos

Thanks for the replies. It is now day 78, and I’m in Italy. I feel even worse now. I’ve hardly left the hostel for 2 weeks. I don’t want to go anywhere, or do anything, but I also don’t want to be here. My muscles ache for no reason and I’m tired and can’t think straight. I’ve spent most of my money. I wish I could go home, be a kid again, but I have no home and all thats left is the hard and cold adult world. Work, stress, loneliness. I have no hope, no life force, no aspiration. Just spending €15 per day on the room, eating cheap, and waiting for something that will never come.

Where abouts in Italy are you? I’m in Padova and I’m feeling pretty lonely and depressed myself. This is mainly due to the language barrier and self doubt. If you are near me I would love to meet up. A bit of company certainly helps me when I can speak in my own language. Let me know x

I’m in Naples.

What are you doing in Italy?

I’m teaching here. I’ve been here for 3 years but really find it hard. When I first came here there were a lot of English but most have since gone home. I stayed as I have a boyfriend here but I’m really finding it very isolating and lonely. Have debated about going back to the UK where I’m from but I wouldn’t know what to do and would probably be in a worse situation. I’ve suffered from depression and still get it from time to time and I know how bad it can make you feel. Like today…I just didn’t want to get out of bed I felt that crap. I just thought that it would help talking to someone who knows what you’re going through.
How’s it going in Naples? Do you feel any better?

My situation has not improved, but I have come to accept it, so it doesn’t bother me as much anymore. I am still unsure as to what exactly I should do next, but I’m leaning towards going home early. Thanks for caring.

Have you developed a working-knowledge of Italian? Is you boyfriend Italian? How is your relationship with him?

I think travelling alone can be very lonely sometimes and make you feel worse even though the idea of it sounds amazing. You do meet people but they come and go and it’s not the same as being with someone who really knows and understands you with whom you don’t have to make much effort with. I travelled to australia alone and I ended up feeling bad even though I was in the most beautiful places. Strange isn’t it?! I think going home is a good idea. You’ve done well with backpacking so far but it’s not worth it if you don’t feel great.

Well…concerning my italian. At the beginning of my stay I didn’t bother learning it as I didn’t have the intention on staying. It was just supposed to be a couple of years out to try to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. Then I met my boyfriend and as I couldn’t speak Italian, he spoke English with me and we got into the habit of just speaking English to each other. We’ve recently started speaking Italian (I try) but my italian is not that good and I shy away when in a group of Italians as I find it really hard. It’s just my character!!!

I feel really close to my boyfriend but I don’t think he’ll ever understand how I feel and why I get down. If he wasn’t here then I’d certainly leave.

I’m in China right now, and I’ve only been gone a few days, but I came via Dubai, which was in the middle of Ramadan. I’ve never felt so lonely or so sick or so lost in my life. I gave up my job to do this too, and I’m the same age as you. It’s too hard though. I can’t speak or read Chinese. I was in Italy in the summer, and at least they use the roman alphabet, and it has a few words you can figure out. It’s too hard though. I have to go home. I have tours planned for China and south east Asia, but I can’t do them, I just have to sacrifice the money and get myself back to where I’m healthy and happy. Even if I don’t know what I want to do with my life, like you. I’d say give it up. You’ve stuck it out WAY longer than I could. Go back to something you know. Even a different city to home in the USA is easier than one where you have no language or job prospects.

I know pollym means well, but you can’t live if you can’t travel around, if you have no language, no transport and no money. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Or sad.