How to deal with loneliness and homesickness on your year abroad

A little more personal post today. I'm gonna be real, I think everyone suffers with loneliness at one point or another on year abroad. The only ones who didn't seem to be affected were the people who'd already been abroad, and were already used to it. It feels pretty terrible, because you're supposed to be having the best, most instagrammable year of your life, but instead you're up at 3am in exam week watching old episodes of ex on the beach and feeling sorry for yourself (may or may not be based on a true story) It's nothing to be ashamed of, if anything, try to see it as a good thing because it means that your home is good too. You also need to remember that it's totally normal. However, although a little bit of homesickness is fine in moderation-it makes you appreciate home more- feeling too homesick is undoubtedly miserable.

So today, I thought I'd share a couple of tips on how to deal with homesickness:

Practise basic self care// Look after your health and sleep enough- when you're run down you're way more prone to depression, anxiety or loneliness.

Sleep// Seriously, I can't stress how important sleep is for your wellbeing. One late night is fine, but if you're only getting four hours a day, it won't be long until you have a breakdown. Youtube will still be there in the morning, I promise.

Keep in touch with those you miss// Via things like Skype, Line, Whatsapp, hey, even letters

Remind yourself that it's not forever// and you'll see people again sooner than you think. 

Make new friends// Don't prioritise people back home over making new friends here

Keep yourself busy// and try to get out- don't give yourself endless hours at home

Talk to other people about it// it surprised me that all my super confident seeming friends had also struggled. It's good to know that you're not alone. That being said, don't let it turn into a thing that happens a lot, and don't waste your time complaining all the time.

Talk to a professional// If you're really struggling, you could even talk to a year abroad councillor or someone like that. 

Try and consume less content online from home// get more immersion and find youtubers, bloggers and TV shows from the country you're in. 

Try and not be too clingy// to your friends, family or partner though, it won't feel good for either of you.

Go out by yourself sometimes// practise being on your own more and try and learn to be more ok with it. This is a life skill by itself.

Give yourself a goal// something to focus on, like studying, can help you feel purpose and gives you something to take your mind off being sad.

Appreciate the year abroad while you can// This is a once in a lifetime thing, and although of course there are times when you'll be down, the rest of the time is awesome <3


If you enjoyed this post, another post of mine which I think could be helpful is my self care post- it's less about cute fluffy things, and more about concrete, basic things you can do to help yourself out when you're feeling low.
Thanks for reading!
-Amy xoxo