Chiwi Journal

Chiwi Journal

My Expensive Therapy Called Portugal

How moving 20,000 miles taught me to stop running and start living

Camellia Yang's avatar
Camellia Yang
Aug 28, 2025
∙ Paid

I spent thirty years running from an invisible tiger that turned out to be my own ambition.

You know those Asian parent stereotypes? They're not stereotypes when you live them. I grew up in Shandong Province, China, where 99% wasn’t good enough, where “rest” was a nonexistent word and “average” was a death sentence. In a culture where parents ask why you…

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