Old Asian Lady

What does it mean to truly belong—and what happens when we spend our lives seeking acceptance from others?

In this deeply personal conversation on #OldAsianLady, Julie Brumley, trauma-informed adoptee coach and founder of Coming Home to Self, shares her journey through adoption, childhood rejection, people-pleasing, unresolved grief, and reconnecting with her birth family.

Julie explores how early experiences can shape identity, self-worth, and relationships, and why understanding the connection between trauma and the body became such an important part of her own healing journey.

As we started building our camp, 'No, no, no, not here—the elephants, they sleep here.' Instead of saying go away, they said, 'Come with us.' and they invite us to stay in their village so we are safe.

In Part 2 of our chat on #OldAsianLady, Sharon continues her conversation with Public Health Professional and Arts Educator, Angela Collenberg.

After visiting over 70 countries, Angela shares her extraordinary 11-month bicycle expedition across Africa with her husband—relying on pedal power, human kindness, and radical trust.

Together, we explore what happens when you strip travel down to two wheels: navigating elephant encounters and post-apartheid racial friction, questioning the urge to "help" other nations, unlearning burnout by setting firm boundaries, and discovering why returning to the stillness of the Swiss mountains fuels more creative fire than city life ever could.

Have you ever been so focused on what was missing from your life that you couldn't appreciate what was already there?

In this Part 1 episode of #OldAsianLady, Angela Collenberg, Public Health Professional and Arts Educator shares how growing up in a small village in the Swiss mountains, volunteering abroad and embracing play for children with disabilities helped shape her perspectives.

We can approach people with curiosity instead of judgment. We can discover that the life we once took for granted holds its own beauty. And we can learn to appreciate the people and moments right in front of us.

Angela’s story reminds us that we don't always have to choose just one path—and that understanding often begins when we're willing to step outside our own experience.

What happens when life takes you somewhere you never expected to go?

In this episode of #OldAsianLady, host Sharon Landon sits down with Victor Stevenson, a former cruise director and polyglot consultant whose remarkable journey has taken him from Chile to France, Taiwan, and around the world aboard cruise ships.

Born in Chile and speaking four languages, Victor traces an extraordinary 25-year journey from dancing on cruise ships to organizing Taiwan's very first International Queer Film Festival in Taipei.

They touch on the psychological phenomenon of how switching languages rewires your brain, surviving the surreal 2020 lockdown stranded on a ghost liner in a maritime "cemetery," navigating the cultural gap between legal same-sex marriage and traditional Asian filial contracts, and why real success means having the courage to take a risk.

What happens when you finally find your birth family? They shared my DNA—but they were total strangers.

In this episode of #OldAsianLady, Sharon sits down with Chenna Leinders who was adopted at 18 months old by a Caucasian Dutch family.

In this deeply personal conversation, Chenna opens up about international and interracial adoption, identity, racism, abandonment, attachment, trauma, belonging, and the life-changing decision at age 24 to travel back to China alone to find closure.

Together, they uncover the shocking truth behind her adoption, the emotional reality of meeting her biological family in China, and why society needs to dismantle the toxic "grateful adoptee" trope so true healing can begin.

What happens when you reach a point in life where you realize you may have more years behind you than ahead of you?

In Part 2 of Joshua Samuel Brown's interview on #OldAsianLady, Novelist and "recovering travel writer" moves beyond his years as a travel writer, He shares a candid, funny, and comforting reflection on aging, mortality, and finding peace.

We also talk about something fascinating: what it's like to realize you're living through history without necessarily knowing it at the time. How do our ordinary lives fit into the much bigger story of history?

And as Josh looks toward the next chapter of his own life, his answer to what he'd like to try next is wonderfully unexpected: Beekeeping. 🐝

Because perhaps growing older isn't about slowing down.Maybe it's about becoming more curious about what still lies ahead.

What if one random comment from a stranger in a restaurant completely changed the next 30 years of your life?

In this episode of #OldAsianLady, Sharon sits down with veteran travel author and former Lonely Planet writer Joshua Samuel Brown Part 1.

We chat about the unconventional journey that took him from dodging Manhattan traffic as a teenage bike messenger to letting a spontaneous restaurant encounter redirect much of his life abroad to Taiwan in 1994.

Josh shares a deeply honest, witty, and reflective journey of adventure, adaptation, and cross-cultural belonging.Together, they explore the reality behind authoring 13 Lonely Planet guides, the unexpected cultural shocks of living in Taiwan, the eye-opening confrontation with global capitalism while inspecting sweatshops in China, and how decades on the road permanently reshape your identity and perspective on aging.

Because sometimes you don't find your path.

You create it.

I had 25 days to pack up 23 years of my life. It was the great escape and I did it while severely ill.

In Part 2 of Carrie Marshall's unforgettable story on #OldAsianLady, we pick up after her sudden, harrowing decision to repatriate after 23 years in Taiwan.

Carrie talks openly about facing the brutal shock of Canadian healthcare bureaucracy where getting disability support meant being forced onto welfare.

She shares the raw reality of total life collapse, reverse culture shock, and how she's rebuilding an entirely new life from a Canadian basement.

What happens when you build the life you're supposed to want… and realize it's not the life you actually want?

In this episode of #OldAsianLady, YiHsin Chang opens up about the friction of breaking societal molds and restarting her life in Los Angeles in her 40s.

She also talks honestly about the difficult side of making those choices and learning to accept that every decision comes with both pros and cons.

Her message is simple but powerful: Life is short. Don't give up on your dreams.

This conversation is about identity, cultural expectations, career choices, family, courage, and what it means to follow your heart—even when the path isn't always easy.

What happens when you spend years taking care of everyone else—and suddenly realize you don't know how to take care of yourself?

In this episode of #OldAsianLady, Betty Lo shares her journey from corporate Silicon Valley project management to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), navigating 10 years as the sole caregiver for both her aging parents through illness, finding herself at a crossroads of her own and then taking a radical leap of faith to relocate to Taiwan.

We dive into emotional numbness, Asian parental obligations, the physiological philosophy of Eastern vs Western medicine, and what it truly means to "come home" to yourself.

If something in this conversation speaks to you, leave a comment. I'd love to hear about a time when you chose a different path.Like, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who might need to hear it.🎙️ About Old Asian LadyOld Asian Lady is a podcast about real people and honest conversations, exploring the experiences that shape who we become.