Coping With Homesickness As An Adult

** In Collaboration** 

Remember that feeling of missing home you’d get when you were a kid? It could wreck slumber parties or school trips. It’s something you get used to as you get older, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience homesickness as an adult.

Image from kaboompics

When you live away for work or study, or you’re travelling, there are times when you might find yourself missing home. Whether you miss the people or your surroundings, it can be a difficult feeling to shake.

Take a look at some useful tips to help you cope with homesickness as an adult.

Keep busy
Having distractions around you will help to keep your mind occupied so that you’ll focus less on being at home and more on what you’re doing now. Fill up your days with fun activities and experiences that you can look forward to. Make a list of things to do while travelling to keep you occupied while also helping you get to know your new surroundings. It’ll take away some of the sting of missing home.

Stay in touch
Home might feel far away, but people are easily reached online or by phone. Keep in touch with your loved ones and make regular calls a part of your week. If you’re worried about people back home, such as elderly parents – it helps to know that they’re safe and looked after. Arrange home care services or do their grocery shop online to give you some extra peace of mind so that you worry less. Add different time zones to your phone so that you can easily check the time difference before you get in touch.

Invite someone to visit you
If possible, why not try inviting someone to come to stay with you for a little bit? Having a friend or relative come to stay can be a great way of reconnecting with home, and will help ease some of those feelings of loneliness. Make sure you show them all of the sights of your new surroundings.

Make new friends
It’s hard to leave friends behind, and while they’ll still be waiting for you back home, there’s nothing to say you can’t make new ones. There are plenty of ways of making friends in a new city, so give some of them a try – you never know what sort of people it’ll lead you to.

Start new traditions
While you might miss your family dinner on a Sunday or breakfast with friends on Saturday morning, being away from home gives you the chance to start some new traditions and routines. As you get into a new routine, you’ll start doing things that feel familiar and help you adjust to your new home. Remember to stay healthy while travelling, so a morning run or regular fitness class are good traditions to start that will benefit your health as well as your homesickness.

Homesickness can be tough, but the feeling won’t last forever. Do what you can to push through, and you’ll soon adjust to where you are. Home will always be there, but it’s important to live in the now and enjoy yourself.