Becky Hellwig, Moving and Integration This is You - The Podcast

Episode 6: What makes us who we are and how does who we are change when we move from one environment to a completely different one? How much of our identity is influenced by the places we live, the routines we have, the things we do? And if those routines and things are no longer an option...who do we become then? How do we hold on and let go at the same time?⠀


In this episode, I talk to Becky Hellwig, self-professed city girl from Silicon Valley who 3 years ago for various reasons moved from Silicon Valley to a small rural town in Germany. Feeling like a fish out of water, she talks about the challenges in transitioning from a big city to a rural village, how she felt so disconnected and her struggle to figure out how to keep who she was while embracing who she could be in this new environment. So much of what Becky equated with her identity was no longer an option. No one dressed up or went anywhere in rural Germany - there was no place to go. For a blogger who would go to big parties in Silicon Valley and served as a quasi-tour guide for people visiting the city, having nowhere to go really impacted her sense of belonging. Hear her story as she talks about her initial days, her life in Silicon Valley compared to rural Germany and what she ultimately had to do to embrace where she was instead of where she used to be.⠀