I remember my first day in college. Although it was past my 18th birthday, I still missed my home. Like I missed everything about it.
The smell of my room, the taste of mom’s food, the vibes in the street. And above all, my friends. It took me months to finally get used to my new environments.
I’m guessing you’re here because you, too, are feeling homesick.
Perhaps you’re on a business trip in India, and you miss the taste of Sushi from your favorite Japanese restaurant. Or maybe you’re in another state, and you miss your loved ones.
Whatever the case may be, I want you to know that I understand exactly how you feel.
If you let me, I have some tricks that can help you.
How to get rid of homesickness when you travel
- Let yourself feel homesick (but for a while)
I know you probably weren’t expecting to hear that, but it’s the first step you have to take. It’s normal to miss home when you’re away from home. It’s not a sign of weakness, neither is it a childish behavior. It’s just you being human.
So, let yourself miss that special someone or special something. If it’s gonna lead to tears, let it. Just make sure you do so for a short while. Everybody has their coping mechanism, so I’m not going to give a stipulated number of hours or days you can stay homesick for.
- Stay in touch with home
I remember an interview of Kanye West I watched a while back. And in that video, Ye said, ‘home is where my daughter FaceTimes me.’
You know what that means? It simply means he goes about with means to communicate with his loved ones. Instead of feeling homesick everywhere he goes, he carries a means to stay in touch with him.
You could be homesick about a number of things – your fav car, local food, loved one, or memories. If there’s a way you can stay in touch with these things, don’t neglect it. For example, if you’re homesick about a loved one, find a way to stay in touch with them over the phone.
- Find a way to recreate memories
Back then, in my early college days, I would get bored and start reminiscing about home
and all the fun I used to have.
This worsened my homesickness. Then I decided I would recreate all the fun I used to have. So at night, I would step out and visit pubs, clubs, parks, or other busy spots in the area.
You, too, can find a way to recreate that magical memory you have stuck in your mind. For example, say you travel to Europe and miss the taste of Chinese dishes, you could come to sites like this to discover the best Chinese restaurants around you.
- Get busy
You’re going to feel homesick if you’re just seated in the room all day long. Go out there and get busy. You could tour your new city, visit friends, attend meetings, or do other things. While you’re doing that, you’ll gradually get the thoughts of home off your mind, and you’ll slowly become acclimatized to your new environments.
- Bring home along
This is something a lot of people do. While traveling, you could bring that special someone’s teddy bear along with you. Or you could snap a ton of photos of them and keep them on your phone so that when you’re missing them, you’ll have something to look at.
If you think you’ll miss the local dishes, you can start researching places to get your local foods in the country you’re heading to. For example, say you’re a Korean heading to Delhi, India. You could use a site like this to figure out the best Korean restaurants in Delhi even before you touchdown.
- Kick out social media
I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s the truth. Constantly checking the social media pages of friends and family at home will do you more harm than good.
The best way to ensure your mind doesn’t keep wandering back home is to just let home be for a while. Let whatever is going on there stay there. Keep yourself focused on the things in your immediate environments – after all, that’s what brought you here in the first place.
- Explore and enjoy your new surroundings
It is okay to think Delhi is the most entertaining place in India. But let yourself explore Mumbai, and you might think differently.
The point here is that you need to let yourself explore and enjoy the new surroundings. Who knows? You just might find it as exciting as the home you miss so bad.
What’s more? Allowing yourself to explore and enjoy a new surrounding will even give you stories to tell when you get back home.
Remember, you don’t want to be that guy who gets back from a journey without any fun tale to tell.
- Meet new people
You’ll stay homesick if you don’t take the plunge and meet new people. Trust me, the more new persons you meet, the faster it is to let go of old memories and create new ones.
New networks will bring new experiences, new realities, and ultimately newer possibilities. You’ll learn things you didn’t know before. And maybe even discover opportunities you never thought were there.
- Talk about it
Finally, talking to people around you about the things you miss about your home can help you feel a lot better. Research has shown that talking about one’s problems can help so much.
Don’t underestimate the power of such conversations. If you have new friends around, talk to them about it. I’m sure they, too, will have some things to share with you. Who knows, maybe their homesickness story might get you feeling a lot better about yours.
Stay updated with all the insights.
Navigate news, 1 email day.
Subscribe to Qrius
