Solo Living & the Art of Being Alone

An expat girl's guide to freaking out… then figuring it out.

When I moved to Thailand for my first year as an expat, I thought I was ready. I had my Pinterest boards. My playlists. My wishful high school dream of “starting a new chapter.” But nothing — and I mean nothing — truly prepares you for the emotional rollercoaster of solo living in a new country.

There were the big wins:
✔️ Signing a lease for my first apartment (adulting alert)
✔️ Buying actual appliances with my own money (hi, rice cooker)
✔️ Setting up WiFi like a grown woman who pays her own bills

And then… there were the oh-no moments:
✖️ Crying in the grocery store because I couldn’t read a single label
✖️ Feeling awkward AF at social events where I barely understood the language
✖️ That terrifying realization that if I didn’t kill the cockroach — no one else would

It’s wild how one minute you’re dancing around to Lizzo’s "Am I Ready?" in your new apartment, and the next, you’re staring into space wondering how loneliness can sneak into such a cute space.

But here’s what I’ve learned:

Living alone doesn’t mean being lonely.

 It’s in these moments — the quiet, awkward, messy ones — that you begin to find the strongest parts of yourself. You learn to take yourself out for coffee. To cook for one and still light a candle. To walk into rooms where you don’t know anyone… and stay anyway.

There’s something wildly powerful about being a woman who chooses to stand on her own, even when it’s scary. Even when it’s hard.

So if you're also in your twenties, working, healing, learning how to be brave in a brand new place — just know this:

You're not behind. You're not alone. You're building something.

And it’s okay if your version of becoming includes air-dried laundry, budget grocery hauls, and a playlist that goes from Phoebe Bridgers to Beyoncé in under 30 seconds.

This is your reminder:

Romanticize your solo life.
Take up space.
Be the main character.
And yes, dance to Lizzo like nobody’s watching — because this chapter?
It’s yours.

#WomenfolkLiving #SoloGirlEra #ExpatDiaries #LivingAloneAndThriving #Mid20sMagic

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