DR. WALLACE: I have wanderlust! I'm a high school senior, and all I can think about these days is getting a job somewhere outside of the United States. I really want to travel and see the world while I'm young, and work my way through various opportunities in a few foreign countries.

I love the United States, and I plan to live here the bulk of my life and retire here, but I would love to work in Canada, Mexico or any other country that would be suitable for me to start with. I fully understand that I'm inexperienced and have few resources and no experience with foreign travel at all, so maybe this is just an unrealistic "pipe dream."

However, I do feel quite strongly about wanting to travel, so I thought I would at least send you an email asking you about your opinion regarding this topic, plus any suggestions you might be able to offer me. — Seeking International Travel, via email

SEEKING INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: Good for you that you already know at such a young age what one of your passions in life is. International travel is a wonderful thing if done correctly, but it can be a dangerous thing to someone inexperienced, lacking resources and who may inadvertently be put in harm's way during international travel to unfamiliar places. Therefore, I feel your best bet would be to seek to work for a company that does business internationally and provides international travel for sales, marketing, advertising, supply chain support or even strategic planning.

Going to college would give you a leg up on this goal of yours, and perhaps you could seek to become an international business major. Study this field as carefully as you can, overlay your desires with companies who do worldwide business and are based in your geographic area, as this would be a good place to start. Seek to speak with employees who work at companies that do international business and travel regularly.

Sometimes internships can be available that may provide international travel from time to time. Companies often promote their products and services at international trade shows and trade fares at various places around the world. And even an entry-level job may present such an opportunity to provide you synchronicity in your job search by including some international travel along the way.

I WAS ABOUT TO END IT, BUT NOW I FEEL STUCK AND WORRIED

DR. WALLACE: I've realized that I need to exit the relationship I've been engaged in. My boyfriend of eight months and I have grown apart in some really nonnegotiable ways. I think he realizes that I'm about to exit the relationship because he has made many comments recently about how "he couldn't live without me" or that he would "not want to go on if we were not together."

This has me spooked, and I've been letting the relationship drag on longer than I thought I would have since I was prepared to tell him of my decision over two weeks ago. Now I feel quite hesitant given his recent and ongoing comments. When am I ever going to find the perfect time to tell him we need to go our own separate ways? — From Quite Sure to Quite Hesitant, via email

FROM QUITE SURE TO QUITE HESITANT: You need to take action immediately, as you are in a very unhealthy relationship. I could never advise you from here as to the veracity of his comments either way. He could be quite sincere about self-harm, or he may be simply bluffing you and doing his best to manipulate you to elongate the relationship in the hopes that it will get back on track.

In either case, you need to firmly stand your ground, but you also need to be sure he is protected in case he may have thoughts of harming himself in any way. What you need to do is go to his parents immediately and explain to them your situation in complete detail.

Make the administration of your high school aware of his comments as well. You might ask his family, particularly his parents, if they would sit with you to do a meeting with him in which you could announce to him that you will no longer be dating him, with their blessing in their presence.

You should also explain your situation in complete detail to your own parents to get their advice, input and guidance. Do not try to handle this any further on your own from here, as allowing things to linger is dangerous on many levels. Engage these other people right away to face this situation immediately with the proper support and empathy.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at [email protected]. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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