A long time ago a wizened ol' expat told me, "We all take our own private hell with us where ever we go."
He didn't mean it too hard core at the time, and I didn't take it that way, but I've always thought there was somthing to what he said.
He probably got the phrase from somewhere else. I think it's been said many times in many ways. The works of J. Conrad relate, I think.
Ya gotta be happy with yourself first, then the people around you, then the place itself.