Everyone has their travel quirks and once you’ve done a few trips you start realising your own patterns when it comes to travelling. And one of these is feeling homesick.
And I’m not talking about that real feeling when you logically think about it and decide it’s time to go home. I mean the impromptu and irrational homesickness thats washes over you a week in, even though you’ve been excited about this trip for years. I don’t know if it’s all the new places and new experiences that make you crave the relief of home, but it’s important to know that you don’t really want to go home.
I mean, we all feel homesick at some point in our trips, it’s totally normal. But everyone’s timing is different. Some people feel homesick before they’ve even left the house but a week in they’re totally fine, no matter how long the trip is. Others have a two week limit where they’re happy as pie but on day 14 suddenly miss roast dinners and Topshop out of nowhere.
My homesickness pattern? Day 2. I know, it’s weird.
I’m always real excited before a trip and the first 24 hours are always a bit of a blur as I catch flights and find my hostel, it’s all very fun and new. Then day 2, I miss home. It’s like I need time to adjust to travelling mode. And it doesn’t matter who I’m travelling with or what kind of trip it is, I miss home on day 2 like clockwork.
The weird thing is I even get this with weekends away when I know I’m going home on day 3. And it’s the exact same feeling if I’m going away for months. It’s completely irrational.
So how do you beat it?
I think awareness is the main thing here. If you don’t know about the irrational premature homesickness you could be fooled into thinking you’ve made a huge mistake and start booking flights home. But when you’re aware of this phenomenon, you can be logical about it. I know I get weird on day 2, so when I start feeling like I want to go home I remember it’s just day 2’s craziness and snap out of it. I know I’ll feel better the next day, that’s just how it is.
To get over it, I also try and throw myself into activities. On Irrational Homesickness Day, you don’t want a chill day. That gives your brain more time to convince you that you want to go home, which you definitely don’t. So it’s a day for activities. Hike through rice terraces in Ubud, visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok, climb the Harbour Bridge in Sydney or take a hot air balloon ride across Arizona, whatever it takes to remind yourself that where you are is bloody awesome and you’re pretty darn grateful to not be stuck at a desk in suburban England (or wherever home is for you).
So there you have it, my weird homesickness phenomenon. I’m super keen to know if you guys experience this?! Or is this another one of my weird things??
Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @HeelsInBackpack!
