From burnout to traveling the world with a child - Nathalie tells how she found happiness on the road

Around the world in pairs. Single mom Nathalie from mom and A half man and her five-year-old son have been on an open-ended trip around the world for some time now. In this interview, she gives us many interesting and very personal insights into her new life and talks about setbacks, courage, change, and how she found happiness along the way.

We've known this charming single mother for a long time. It's all the more wonderful that we've been able to accompany Nathalie on her journey around the world. Today, she tells us about her deep love of travel, her courageous decision to simply set off, and the reasons behind her decision. This first part of the interview revolves around burnout, health problems, raising children, and wonderful new beginnings.

1. Dear Nathalie, you became a mother five years ago and are raising your son Marvel alone. You currently live together in Thailand. We've known each other for several years now - would you like to introduce yourself to our readers?

With pleasure, I'm Nathalie and I describe myself as a part-time hippie. I've always traveled a lot with my son, Marvel—always just the two of us, always on a budget. After 19 countries, I decided to take the final step and follow my heart's call. With a backpack and a duffel bag, we traveled one-way to Thailand and have never regretted it. I talk about our adventures and my thoughts on Instagram @mom_and_a_half_man .

2.  On your Instagram channel, you speak openly about your experiences with stress, burnout, panic attacks, and feeling completely overwhelmed. Instagram is often used to showcase the bright side of things. How did you come up with the wonderful idea of ​​addressing taboo topics openly and honestly? And what experiences have you had with this approach?

Only positive experiences. When someone—in this case, me—starts talking about a topic, bringing it out of the dark corner of taboo, the ball starts rolling. More and more people have begun to talk about their own overwhelm; more than half complained of severe exhaustion. Single parents in particular are often hit hard by this. And ultimately, we're all in the same boat. I believe that keeping problems to yourself has never been the best way to solve them.

My life is beautiful, with many bright sides. It's even more beautiful now because I had the courage to make my dream come true and share my experiences with others.

3. In December of last year, you decided to drop everything and travel to Thailand with your son. One way. Tell us how you came to this courageous decision and what this decision meant to you?

We became increasingly unhappy in Germany. Parents have no lobby, single parents even less so. Moreover, this constant pressure to perform was wearing me down. The comparisons started as early as kindergarten, at a very early age. He's better at this, she's better at that. Marvel was always wilder than the others, which earned him all sorts of labels, and I constantly had to protect him from violent reactions.

Additionally, the financial situation was almost unbearable. I was working 30 hours a week, had zero time for myself, and money was still tight by mid-month. Work-life balance became a work-survival battle.

I decided to follow my heart's calling, booked clients, and started acquiring clients at the same time. My dream was always to make a living from writing. I'm now living that dream as a freelance copywriter and content creator.

4.  At exactly this time, the coronavirus outbreak in Asia, and the situation gradually worsened. How did you perceive this situation and how did it affect your plans?

I was asked this question incredibly often. I had an incredibly strong instinct to flee Germany. I knew everything would be fine and trusted my gut. This feeling wasn't wrong. At first, I was also gripped by fear in Thailand. But that subsided after two weeks. In Thailand, the coronavirus situation has been under control for some time. The number of new infections has been in the single digits for weeks. Strict measures were taken here very early on, while in Germany there was a very long discussion and, in my opinion, valuable time was wasted.

This ensures that we can now move around here very freely and that the last measures will soon be relaxed.

5. You've been in Thailand for a few months now and have experienced a lot – from beautiful sandy beaches and unforgettable experiences to some unpleasant surprises. What have been your best and worst experiences so far?

The most wonderful experience is that I see every day anew that I made the right decision. We are free. We live the way we want. Marvel is becoming increasingly happier and is accepted for who he is. Here, people are happy to have a bright child, whereas in Germany he was considered a troublemaker. It's all a matter of one's own perspective on mistakes, and unfortunately, in Germany, that's not a rose-colored one.

We're both crash kids and unfortunately weren't spared minor and major injuries. Right at the beginning, I had a painful pyelonephritis, and shortly after that, I stepped on a coral, which had to be cut out. And then came the big bang...

6. Marvel and then you both contracted dengue fever at one point, which was a huge shock. How did you deal with this situation, and did you consider returning to Germany? How did the situation develop afterward?

That was undoubtedly the worst experience of my life. Marvel suddenly developed a very high fever, and his condition worsened until he was no longer responsive. We were taken to a local hospital with, unfortunately, very poor medical care. That night, I said goodbye to my child. I knew he wouldn't survive – his temperature rose to 41.6°C (106.6°F), and they had no medicine for him.

He fought his way back to life, and the next day we were admitted to an international clinic. He was out of danger that same day, and my condition worsened. I, too, was diagnosed with dengue.

We received excellent care at this clinic. Despite my extremely difficult course and the unimaginable pain, I emerged from this situation feeling stronger than ever. Since I had suffered a significant loss of income due to the illness, I was very worried. The wonderful Katja Hentschel noticed this and set up a crowdfunder for me. Within a very short time, a wave of charity washed over me. Over 100 people donated, enabling me to recover for a month without financial worries. I still bring tears to my eyes when I think about it. My gratitude is hard to put into words.

Find out how the two continued their journey, what else happened to them, and what impact their sudden freedom had on them in the second part of this exciting interview! Stay tuned <3