With my all-time favorite season arriving just around the corner, I have to admit that I’m starting to miss my home and Denmark just a bit. Don’t get me wrong, I really love Hong Kong, and there are so many things that I still wanna do here before I leave, but Christmas just ain’t the same here as in Denmark. First of all, because the temperatures are still above 20 degrees it’s just difficult to get in the Christmas spirit. To me, Christmas means family time, which means that I’m of course starting to look forward to reuniting with my family and Ollie. On top of that, my dog had puppies a few weeks ago, and I’m seriously counting the days till I get to meet them. But I won’t let the homesickness stop me from making the most of my last month (25 days to be exact) in Hong Kong!
So here are a few of my tips of how to overcome homesickness, when you’re abroad:
- Stay busy. Meet new people. Be a tourist in your new place. I find that it helps a lot to make a bucket list for every months with things that you wanna explore and do in your new place. Along with that doing new and maybe scary things can also help a lot. Anything from a scary hike, to learning a challenging language will keep your mind busy and you’ll forget about feeling homesick.
- At the same time, stay connected to people from home. Share your experiences with them, send them presents or postcards, whatever works for you. Just because you’re abroad, doesn’t mean that you have to forget about home.
- But don’t overdo it. Skype when possible, but don’t cancel plans in your new location, because you’d rather skype with your family. Although it is important to stay in touch with people from home, it is also important that you don’t ruin your opportunities to explore your new location and make new friendships. That will without doubt make you feel more lonely and like you’re missing out on everything going on i people’s lives at home.
- Create a routine. Whether you’re bringing an old routine with you, or making a new routine, this will mean that you have something to get out of bed for, and also something to look forward to every day. Here in Hong Kong, my routines include Ladies Night or horse racing on Wednesdays, hikes every weekend, and my Monday morning Starbucks. Very simple, but these routines also make you feel more like home.
- And finally, be positive! I believe positive thinking and openness to your new location and circumstances will naturally make you less likely to feel homesick. So be open towards the cultural differences that you for sure will meet in your new home, and focus and remember the positive experiences.
How do you deal with homesickness when you’re abroad?
3 svar til “HOW TO OVERCOME HOMESICKNESS”
When I was uni I definitely kept in touch with my parents. skype sessions every day 😛
Pam xo/ Pam Scalfi♥
Super godt indlæg !!! 😀
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Det må ikke være sjovt at være så langt hjemmefra 🙁 – Synes at det er nogle rigtig gode, relevante og brugbare punkter du kommer med 🙂