About Me

Hello and welcome to my little slice of the internet! 

My name is Samantha and I'm a 30-year-old American living and teaching in Shanghai, China. I have lived abroad since 2010 and have a serious case of wanderlust. In addition to my addiction to travel, I am also living with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. Living in a foreign country with an auto-immune disease hasn't been easy, and it has taken me a long to time to get my health in order. That's where this blog comes in! 

I was diagnosed when I was 8, but lived a very normal life (while taking Synthroid daily). That is, until, I went away to college. At first I thought I was just gaining the average "freshman 15." Then my weight continued to increase and I started to feel more and more sluggish. I couldn't get enough sleep and had very little motivation to do anything. I let this feeling go on for far too long.

I continued to kind of manage my condition while living in Qatar and Honduras but stopped seeing an Endocrinologist because it was too expensive.  Then when I moved to China in 2014, I tried to get back on track. It has taken me nearly four years to do just that but I am finally figuring how to eat right with some serious diet restrictions, exercise, and travel around the world. Hopefully my journey can help you, inspire you, or entertain you along the way!