5 ways to combat homesickness

"Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was."  

Living and working abroad is fun, its an exhilarating   and rewarding experience, but an experience that isn't without difficulties.Its been four months since I left my beloved country, hometown and my own home. Maybe four months is just four, but for me who work overseas, it's like years already especially when you have already created a routine activities everyday. You woke up, cook, eat, take a shower, put on your uniform and go to work, after eight hours of duty, you will go home, say "bye-bye, see you tomorrow", cook, eat, take a shower, put on your pajama and while staring at the ceiling you'll think about home. And homesickness strikes! 

 There are so many ways to fight homesickness and for me this five ways are my guide to help me reduce homesickness:

1. Be ready.

When you knew that you will going to travel to a new place and you will stay abroad for a long time, be ready.It's hard to adjust when you don't know nothing about your new place.You have to do a research about it,Know the basic things about your new place. 

Prepare  also yourself. Have a self-awareness. Assess yourself if you can really stay away from your beloved family, friends, from your hometown. Many of the overseas workers become crazy because of homesickness. Be ready also with your goal. What is your  main purpose why you left your hometown and your family? Think of all the positive and brighter side of going abroad.  

2. Time management and have a special activity 

Life is full of surprises, inconsistency and instability. When your in abroad, its either working or just purely traveling, your daily routines will be different when your away from your home. When you used to have a maid or mom to cook for dinner or someone to wash and iron your clothes, it'll be very difficult for you to adjust on daily life activities abroad not unless you bring your maid or your mom and put them on your luggage OR not unless you're the one who's preparing all of these (food, clothes, household chores and everything). And your used to it. I salute! But if not, you will really feel homesickness.

This is one of my challenges staying abroad, honestly and truthfully, it is indeed hard to adjust when you don't know nothing about household chores! In fact, this is the real time to appreciate maids and moms. I know at all times, your are exhausted from work and yet you still have to wash and cook for yourself when you got home. Time management is the key for every tight schedule. List all your schedules, your chores and make your meal rewarding. Make also a "ME" time for yourself!

Have a special and fun activity. Try something new and think of all the things you wanted to do and be crazy about it. It can make you feel more at peace and you'll be thinking home less and less because you've devoted yourself into something new. But always make sure that you will still include all the things you love to do when you're in your own hometown. If you love to go shopping, eat outside, read books and magazines, watch movie marathon, blogging, go to mass or just sit and sleep, DO IT! Because those activities will decrease your homesickness...

3. Staying In touch with your love ones

This is one of the most important things to do whatever you do and wherever you are. Keep in touch always. Call your family, your significant others, call your friends who are away from you, this will help you a lot to cope up with homesickness. Calling or chatting too much will make you feel part of the happenings even if you are physically absent but sometimes it'll cause further homesickness, eventually it will make you feel comfortable that your family is just a phone call away. Long Distance is no more a long distance because there's a lot of ways to communicate with them Facebook, Skype, Viber, WhatsUp, Tango and many more to choose from. With the advance technology that humans invented, there's no more excuses not to talk with them always.

4. Make new and real true friends

Meet someone new but make sure they are true. Here in abroad there are a lot of people who are very Class A (I thougth it's true but at the end they are fake). You will meet people who are very crazy, very loud and noisy and at the end of the day, you will find them true to you. You will also meet people who are smiling at you always, very quiet, and you think they are the people you can trust but at the end of the day (again) they will betray you. When making new friends, always be careful. I don't judge people, but always look at them and their ways, feel them, and your instinct will tell you what do. 

Abroad is a place where you ca meet every kind of nationality and every kind of different hues, attitude and beliefs. And making friends is very essential when you are far. True and real friends here in abroad will make you at peace and they will be your comforting zone whenever you feel homesick. They will cheer you up, laugh with you out loud, remind you that you are not alone and lonely. Your friends will be your immediate shoulder to cry on when all falls apart. But always remember to choose wisely who will be your trusted friends are.

5.Live and Work on a positive attitude 

Homesickness is an anxiety disorder. which is prone to negative thinking. Learn to think positively.Write only positive thoughts on your mind, read only encouraging and inspiring books, and be with beautiful and well mannered people. Surround yourself with people who has great and good attitude.  STOP COMPLAINING! And always be gratitude and be thankful of all the blessing you have now. Positive energy will bring positive and good luck.

Homesickness is a very real anxiety topic, but this feeling will not stop you to achieve the good things that life may offer to you. There are a lot of ways to calm and relax yourself. Consider my five ways to fight homesickness and always remember that even though you are away from home you are still on a place that has a lot of things to do and good things to offer. That even though each people are different, they can still be amazing.

I do not own the photos. Photos are owned by their respective owners.