Tips for Trekking – Part III (Keeping in Touch, Homesickness, and Coming Home)

When you're drowning in unfamiliar territory and all you want is to hear a familiar voice, know you're not alone. Modern technology makes homesickness significantly easier to cope with while also helping you to remember and relish every moment you find yourself in awe of the places and things you're getting to experience. Coming home may also have it's challenges, but it's nothing you can't handle!

This is the last installment of tips and most likely my final post on this blog! I hope these are able to help in one way or another and if you have anything to add or ask, please comment at the bottom!

Keeping in Touch (with Home and Yourself)

1. Journal. I had never really kept a journal before going abroad and there were times when I forgot or didn’t take the time to write, but keeping track of my days, the things I’d done, and the places I’d been felt rewarding to me. There are details and emotions that the mind forgets and it’s nice to be able to look back on my time abroad and remember it all. 
2. Don’t let yourself get discouraged if you miss some time writing. I missed a month. Instead of ignoring it, I decided to leave some space to go back and write the highlights from that time period, which I did. I often left the weekends I traveled until I got back to Hungary or I would write on the plane. I’ve since kept it up and continue to write almost daily – although, my entries a lot less exciting than when I was traveling. 
3. Wi-Fi-based communication. I used several forms of communication while I was abroad to keep in touch with Friends and Family. I recommend Skype, Google Hangouts, Whatsapp, and Facebook Messenger. Skype is best for one-on-0ne video chats, Google Hangouts for group video chats, FB Messenger is ideal for group chats, and Whatsapp is most like a texting service. I did use Viber but I found that several times messages were never sent or received so I wouldn’t rely on that. If you choose to download Whatsapp, do so before leaving your country (if you don’t have an international phone plan) because it requires as code entry that will be texted to you.
4. Explore phone options in advance. I got a local SIM card because of the length of my stay. It was a significantly better deal (that included 1GB of data) than the international plan my phone provided offered and benefitted me because of the unreliable Wi-Fi in the dorms (HOWEVER, some phones have locks that prevent use of a new SIM card. Check your phone before spending the money). Others get burn phones (think Tracfone) with local numbers to contact people in the group. Our program directors offered several of these for low prices. I also kept my home SIM card on me for emergencies and weekend travel (since I also had an international plan at the end).
5. Stay connected with home – but not too connected. My first week was rough because the Wi-Fi and Ethernet were unreliable and I had difficulty contacting my friends and family when I wanted to most. Once that was settled, I would message my friends daily and parents almost as often (what can I say, I’ve got more friends than parents), but I never let this distract me from where I was or what I was doing. I used Skype or Google Hangouts for video chats approximately every other week or so (or whenever I just really wanted to see someone from home). The trick is to not over-do it. Don’t make yourself miserable over what you’re missing at home when everyone else is jealous of what you’re doing there.
6. Take lots of pictures. The mind is fickle. Every time you access a memory, it’s slightly altered. Pictures don’t alter themselves so you’ll always have the unchanged memory in front of you. But...
7. Look at things through your own eyes before you do so through a camera lens. We have a tendency to get wrapped up in camera culture. We’re too concerned with saving the memory forever to take it all in in the moment and we end up with a lot of pictures of places that we barely remember. Cameras can’t smell the flowers.
8. Know the basics of the language. Nobody expects you to be fluent or even to sound natural, but knowing how to say a simple “hello” and “thank you” can garner a lot of appreciation from locals.

Homesickness and Coming Home

1. Know that it’s okay to miss home. Believe me, you’re not alone and it doesn’t hit everyone at the same time. I was most homesick the first week and when I got a really bad cold, but my roommate was fine until the last month. It’s different but also likely for everyone, even if they won’t tell you. 
2. It’s okay to miss where you went away from home. Reverse culture shock comes in many forms, including reverse homesickness. I frequently miss the European architecture and seeing the Danube River and everything along it when I would walk to class. Every so often I find myself scanning through my pictures to relive the memories and I’ve learned to be okay with a little nostalgia.
3. Reverse culture shock doesn’t always hit you right away. Sometimes coming home can leave you feeling stagnant or out of place and it may take a while for this to even start. I was home for over a month before I realized I hadn’t been farther than Target in several weeks and I started feeling stuck. But...
4. It goes away. Whether it’s on its own or with some effort, the feeling of reverse culture shock goes away. You readjust to life at home and figure out how to use the experiences you had abroad to change your life at home if you desire. Explore more of your local area, try something new, or try to make a meal from your host country for someone else. You may need to push yourself but every experience is worth it in the end.