Schizophrenia and South East Asia, Explained

Amber Rodgers Start Date: Nov 23, 2024 - End Date: Nov 22, 2025
  • Vietnam
  • Cambodia
  • Thailand
  • Malaysia
  • Singapore
  • Indonesia
  • Laos
  • Philippines
  • Timor-Leste
  • Brunei
  • Myanmar (Burma)

My Travel Story

by: Amber Rodgers Start Date: Nov 23, 2024 - End Date: Nov 22, 2025
Hi there,

This is something of a first for me. I have never fundraised for a trip abroad before, but so intense is my passion for travelling, it actually sustains my sanity. 

It sounds farfetched, I know. But let me explain. 

My name is Amber, and I have just turned 28 years-old. I have schizoid-affective disorder. This basically means, in psychiatrist terms, I suffer from both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is not a sob story, though. I have seen over 30 countries, including nearly all of Europe, the States, and Canada. And as stressful as I find airports, and I really blumming do, travel challenges me in ways that sustain my sanity (quite literally) with my symptoms. Some days, my voices and mood imbalance can get too much. I have tried to end my life a number of times, for various reasons not just limited to my illnesses. But you can bet the diagnoses are a big factor. 

But do not pity me. I try to grasp life with both hands now. Being diagnosed has taught me so many things, chiefly the importance in learning big and major life-altering lessons, self-development, improved emotional awareness, and therapy. I see my therapist religiously, every week, without fail. I take medication, and on the fewer, albeit rarer good days, I try to get a lot of rest. Schizophrenia eats away at the brain, it makes some of the most basic, dignifying tasks impossible. Reading, for example. I will be damned before my concentration lets me read a book. Or perceiving reality properly, it sounds so basic. But it really is a challenge. 

What sustains me, besides travel? Writing, most of all. In fact, one of my first warning signs for oncoming relapse, breakthrough symptoms or psychosis is that I cannot construct a sentence properly. My voices become so loud and overwhelming in my head, I cannot order the correct subject-action-object construction in my sentences. For example, if I want to write, The cat went to the shop. When unwell I might write, The shop saw the cat visited. And I know this is how bad it gets, though I am a native English speaker, because I once wrote this in a journal in hospital, under mandatory section. 

Although it can be extremely worrying to travel farther afield, particularly out of Europe (I could have crapped myself going to the States), I know it is good for me. Travel, meeting new people, seeing new things and challenging my own personal customs in different cultural contexts, mean that I grow. And while I have relapsed majorly abroad before, I have chosen for that to not beat me. I am trying to be more resilient, and stronger. More upbeat, positive and fulfilled. A lot has happened since my diagnosis in 2017, and I will be damned if any more of it is negative. 

So why am I trying to crowdfund for this trip? As I get older, I have become more aware of the suffering around me. Like you, and me, we are not alone in our struggles, and strangely enough, this is actually quite liberating to think. Whatever you or I, friends or even relatives, are going through - there always remains hope. Always. 

I have started to try and fundraise for a couple of causes close to mine and other loved ones' hearts recently, and while researching charities, a relative came across this website. They told me about it. So here I am. 

South East Asia remains an all-time dream of mine to visit. I want to see people, art and cultures that are not European. I have a huge interest in visual expression, painting especially, and as part of my self-expansion not just as an acutely unwell schizophrenic but also just a person, I want to learn about Asian art. I want to expose myself to new languages, and to learn. I want to take you, my fellow crowdfunders, with me. I want you to see this amazing part of the continent through the eyes of someone who, yes, has been through it in some major, life-altering ways but whom also wishes to grow, and improve, from those things. Travel quite literally keeps me sane. 

I currently have a blog and YouTube channel for which I intend to make content, not just as part of my crowdfunding pledge to you but to document my journey. You are welcome to have a watch or read!

  • Vietnam
  • Cambodia
  • Thailand
  • Malaysia
  • Singapore
  • Indonesia
  • Laos
  • Philippines
  • Timor-Leste
  • Brunei
  • Myanmar (Burma)

Updates

1

  • I Am *SO EXCITED*

    I've only just launched this campaign for my SE Asia trip, but let me tell you, I am SO psyched!
    ?>

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