By Guest Blogger on January 20, 2010

A Celiac in Seoul

Last spring, after a wonderful turn of events, I was presented with the opportunity to move from Philadelphia, my home of six years, to Seoul, South Korea. I was thrilled by the possibility, but had concerns: As a Celiac, wasn’t it foolhardy to move to a country where the food is infused with gluten-ridden soy sauce, especially when I can’t read or speak the local language? As someone with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, wasn’t it risky to move 7,000 miles from my endocrinologist? Would I be able to handle the crazy summer hours, working upwards of seventy hours a week?

So I did what any Type A travel nut would do: I made a spreadsheet weighing the pros and cons, with a notes column for possible solutions. The pros won by a landslide, and I moved in May.

Much to my surprise—despite some inevitable setbacks in the first few months—making such a drastic move has led to my best health yet. I was forced to be strategic, to think about wellness in digestible, manageable bites. I realized that everything I need in order to live a healthy, productive life is portable, importable, or local.

Portable

To me, portable means items or positive habits (or, more truthfully, behaviors I hope to make habits) that can come with me everywhere I go, little or no luggage space required. This hit home recently when I introduced an itty-bitty yoga practice to my daily life. I have finally accepted that the only way I make any lasting progress (to paraphrase the brilliant Martha Beck) is by making commitments so small, I couldn’t possibly shirk them. For me, this means doing five sun salutations a day, which I can do anywhere, no matter how busy I am.

Other portable tools include deep breathing, meditation, positive sleep hygiene, walks, and, my biggest struggle, eliminating added sugar.

Importable

Sometimes, though, a girl just needs—or wants—more. I have little experience with imports, save for two exceptions. First is my love affair with an internet-based supplement retailer with generous international shipping rates. It helps keep me stocked with many of the goodies I add to my daily green smoothie, such as bee pollen, flax seed, flax seed oil, and maca and green powders.

My second import was my big end-of-summer treat: a “pre-owned” VitaMix, purchased online. A friend who came to visit in October generously lugged it in her suitcase to spare me the shipping costs. It was a splurge, but well worth the cost.

Local

Assistance from locals is one of the keys to success. On my first day here, I explained Celiac Disease to my boss as he looked at me with a mixture of horror and pity. He protectively typed out a piece of paper I could show at restaurants to make sure my food was gluten free, and made me promise to call him if there were ever any questions. Lucky for me, a tall pale American with a freak soy sauce disease (as I like to call it) is pretty memorable, and I’ve never had to go through explanations twice at the same restaurant. Even better, I’m slowly learning enough Korean to manage ordering without pulling out my “cheat sheet.” (I use a similar method whenever I travel. When I visited Japan, a local friend wrote the equivalent in Japanese, and I will be sure to have a similar sheet whenever I go somewhere new.)

Some delicious local finds include roasted seaweed and countless veggie-rich traditional soups. But my absolute favorite discovery is kimchi, the traditional fermented cabbage dish—particularly in the form of kimchi soup. In fact, I have become so enamored of this dish that I am currently working on perfecting my own version to cook for loved ones upon my Stateside return.

And this is just the beginning; there are so many experiences I have yet to take advantage of, like learning Tae Kwon Do, the Korean national sport, or going on a temple stay at one of the many Buddhist retreats open to guests.

The Journey Continues

Traveling anywhere, especially when you have a condition that needs constant vigilance, such as Celiac Disease, can be daunting. But given my options—get creative and figure out a way to make it work, or never leave my safe, comfortable bubble—the choice was clear. I made the decision a long time ago to use Celiac Disease and my other health challenges as motivation to live the biggest life I can, rather than as an excuse to plod through some circumscribed existence. In fact, right now my beau and I are mapping out an amazing months-long trip through Asia, tentatively scheduled for spring 2011. Though I’m a little nervous about doing this without my VitaMix, I’m sure it will be a success. How am I so certain? Because there’s no way I’m missing the trip of a lifetime. And besides—who knows what amazing health discoveries I might make along the way.

Olivia Lindquist lives and teaches in Seoul, South Korea. When she’s not with students, she’s writing her blog, The View from There, indulging her love of words and languages, playing in the kitchen, and thinking about where to travel to next.

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