How to Cope with Homesickness During a Short-Term Trip

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I can reasonably predict the timing of its onset. I am talking about homesickness, specifically during short-term travel.

Whenever I lead my academic institution’s intensive (3 weeks) study abroad in South Korea, at some point during the program—usually, about 2 weeks in—my students start to feel homesick.

Homesickness during short-term travel has some distinctive aspects. First, it can take a person by surprise because they might not have expected it to happen. A college student who moves out of state for their college education might reasonably anticipate that homesickness could be a part of their experience, and therefore be mentally prepared for it; in contrast, someone who travels short-term might be alarmed by the onset and strength of homesickness.

Second, there might be feelings of guilt or shame that coincide with the longing for home. Take my American students, for example. I noticed that they seemed hesitant to share with me that they were starting to miss home. Perhaps it was the internalized pressure to appear that they were enjoying the study abroad experience to its fullest. It could also be the dissonance of having paid a substantive amount for the program—study abroad is increasingly expensive—while feeling like they would like to return home. Indeed, I might even describe their attitude toward homesickness as a self-stigmatization; they viewed the homesickness as a personal failure or sign of weakness.

So, how might one respond to homesickness while traveling short-term? Here are some suggestions that I've shared with my students:

1. Practice full acceptance. It is a perfectly human experience to miss the people and places to which you are connected to. Go ahead and clearly name the homesickness as a normal response. If you can, disclose your homesickness to someone you trust. When you clearly name homesickness as a normal, human experience, its mystery or stigma can dissipate.
2. Reframe homesickness. The psychological aching for your home also means that you have a place to call home. Remind yourself that you are loved, and that there are people waiting for you to return home. In a real way, homesickness is a reminder of your belonging.
3. Embrace the tensions. It’s possible (and perhaps even likely) for both loneliness and excitement to co-exist during short-term travel. In other words, missing home does not have to take away from creating lasting memories during your travels.
4. Be self-compassionate. Psychologist Kristin Neff argues that one important function of self-compassion is “offering nonjudgmental understanding to one’s pain, inadequacies and failures, so that one’s experience is seen as part of the larger human experience” (2003). That connection to the “larger human experience” is important. Applied to homesickness, a self-compassionate posture is one that recognizes that other people across the globe also share in the experience of longing for home. As Neff asserts, such an understanding allows the experience in question (e.g., homesickness) to not be so debilitating for the individual, and instead helps one maintain a balanced perspective.
5. Step back, move forward. When you feel homesick, try doing something that gives you permission to connect to home. Whenever I feel homesick for my home in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. while traveling in South Korea, I find a Starbucks to jump into and grab a familiar beverage that reminds me of rainy Seattle. Or I turn on Netflix and watch an episode of something I might have started viewing back home. Whatever it might be, find a way to self-care when you long for home, so that you can recharge for jumping back into exploring your travel destination.