18, She Chose Rural Cambodia Over College & Never Looked Back

Babes, How Did You Get Here? | Why I Chose Cambodia Over College: A Story of Language, Loneliness & Learning to Belong What happens when an 18-year-old from Colorado takes a one-month volunteer trip to rural Cambodia, falls in love with the golden rice fields and slower pace of life, and decides to skip college entirely—spending the next six years hand-washing clothes, learning Khmer from children, sleeping through 4 AM ceremonies, battling crippling social anxiety, running a women's book club, teaching middle schoolers, and building a life in a country where she'll always stand out but finally feels like she belongs? In this raw, deeply vulnerable, and inspiring episode, host April Jackson sits down with a young American woman who traded the traditional college path for rural Cambodia at 18—and never looked back. From volunteering in a children's home in a rural province, to returning home just long enough to tell her parents she wasn't coming back, to battling severe social anxiety so intense she couldn't buy bottled water for years, to learning to read, write, and speak Khmer fluently by asking kids endless questions, to accidentally starting a 40-person women's book club after her co-founder moved away, to navigating the backpacker teacher stigma, to discovering that life in Cambodia is far less dramatic than the books she loves—this is a story of courage, reinvention, and choosing authenticity over expectation. In this episode, we discuss: Introduction: A Unique Journey to Cambodia – How a gap year volunteer trip turned into six years and counting in Southeast Asia. First Impressions: Arriving in Rural Cambodia – Golden hour light over rice fields, 4 AM ceremonies, and falling in love with a place she barely knew. Returning Home and Planning the Big Move – Telling her parents she wanted to move back to Cambodia to keep volunteering, saving for a year, and arriving in February 2020. Social Anxiety and Cultural Adjustment – Being too scared to talk to adults, asking kids to buy things for her, and realizing the "confident version" of herself was just a two-year phase. Rural Life: Hand-Washing Clothes and Farm Work – Never quite mastering hand-washing, harvesting cashews and cassava, taking care of cows, and learning what rural Cambodian life actually looks like. Family Dynamics and Cultural Differences – Why Cambodian middle schoolers say their parents are the most important people in their lives, and how family loyalty is woven into daily life. Managing Distance from Home – Staying close to her family from 6,000 miles away, visiting once a year, and why her brother also left their home state. The College Path Not Taken – Wanting to prove she could succeed without a degree, avoiding student debt, and why she's still working toward a sociology degree online. Transitioning from Volunteer to Teacher – Realizing she had no idea how to teach English just because she spoke it, getting certifications, and discovering she loves teaching 7th graders but not preschoolers. Moving to the City: Phnom Penh Life – Leaving rural Cambodia for modern conveniences, grocery stores, and malls—but missing the nature and slower pace. Finding Work as an English Teacher – How being a white native English speaker made finding a job easy, navigating the "backpacker teacher" stigma, and why she's grown to love teaching middle school. Food Adventures: From Balut to Cambodian Cuisine – Trying snake, balut (fertilized duck egg), and discovering her love for sour soups, lemongrass stir fry, and amok. Learning Khmer: The Language Journey – Learning to read, write, and speak Khmer by asking kids endless questions, memorizing the alphabet in the US. 📚 For more details on parenting course: https://april-s-site-fcfd.thinkific.com 00:00:00 Introduction: A Unique Journey to Cambodia 00:06:15 First Impressions: Arriving in Rural Cambodia 00:07:24 Returning Home and Planning the Big Move 00:10:07 Social Anxiety and Cultural Adjustment 00:17:04 Rural Life: Hand-Washing Clothes and Farm Work 00:18:58 Family Dynamics and Cultural Differences 00:21:04 Managing Distance from Home 00:23:30 The College Path Not Taken 00:26:52 Transitioning from Volunteer to Teacher 00:32:47 Food Adventures: From Balut to Cambodian Cuisine 00:38:02 Moving to the City: Phnom Penh Life 00:43:03 Finding Work as an English Teacher 00:50:35 Learning Khmer: The Language Journey 00:59:50 Starting a Book Club and Finding Community 01:06:42 Understanding Cambodia's History and Resilience 01:08:16 Weddings, Ceremonies, and Cambodian Celebrations 01:10:02 Final Thoughts: A Postcard from Cambodia #HowDidYouGetHere #AprilJackson #CambodiaLiving #PhnomPenh #RuralCambodia #GapYear #VolunteerWork #LearningKhmer #SocialAnxiety #BookClub #ExpatLife #TeachingEnglish #KhmerLanguage #CambodianCulture #SkippingCollege #LivingAbroad #Reinvention #CourageOverComfort #FindingCommunity #SoutheastAsia #CulturalImmer