Question: How do you handle isolation from familiar surroundings and/or people?

Answer: My first solo international travel experience was going, on my own, to live in a foreign country for a year to attend a school in a culture I was not familiar with.  I have gone without seeing land for 35 days. I have had to shop for food for 40 people in a country where I did not speak the language, was not familiar with the currency, did not have any mode of transportation other than my feet, and where there were no grocery stores.