It's okay to feel homesick

The first thing to know about homesickness is that you're not alone in how you're feeling. Anyone who's travelling away from home for an extended period of time is going to miss home, you wouldn't be human if you didn't. The second thing to know about homesickness is that, believe it or not at times, you will get over that feeling and it does go away. And the third thing to know about homesickness is, on those days where it doesn't feel like it's going to go away, it's not hard to deal with. So let's start at the beginning.

To be honest, you'll probably find yourself missing family and friends nearly every day but there's a big difference between missing them because you want to tell them things or wishing they were there too, and crying because you want to go home and see them and be with them. There will be occasions, when for no particular reason, you feel particularly homesick and you'll probably be missing one particular thing.

I remember one morning, I was stood in the bathroom on one of the farms we were working on, brushing my teeth and I just turned to Jack and cried 'I miss Molly, I want to cuddle Molly' (Molly being my dog). But after a couple of hours the feeling had gone. I mean of course I still missed her but I didn't feel the need to cry about it. 

How did I get over it so quickly?

1)  I got busy. I went out and did the work I had to do which helped take my mind of it. If you're not working, read a book, draw, write. Just get creative and get busy. 

2) I stopped for five minutes and looked through photos on my phone I'd taken before I left to come to Australia. That might seem a bit of an odd thing to do, but I always find it helpful. 

3) I looked at pictures of the awesome things I've seen and done helps. A reminder of why I'm travelling and why I'm away from home and suddenly everything is in perspective.

Travelling is a once in a lifetime opportunity, mostly, and even if it isn't the experience will never be the same twice. Enjoy it. Home will still be there when you get home but living and enjoying the present is the best thing you can do.

At times it feels like you're never going to not miss home and that's okay. But taking your mind off it by keeping busy, telling yourself why you wanted to travel and reminding yourself off all the awesome things you've done and are yet to do is sure to make you a little less homesick. I would regret it so much if I went home and the first sign of homesickness. I wouldn't have done half the things I've done and I'd now be sat at home wishing I was still here saving up money to go and dive in the Great Barrier Reef. 

For some people homesickness can be a persistent bugger, I'm lucky for me that it's been relatively fleeting moments of homesickness but I think if it was me I would write a list of all the things I still wanted to do and see and just think about what I'd be missing out on if I went home. I'd also take the first opportunity possible to talk to my parents. Go through how I'm feeling, getting it off your chest and getting advice from the people who know you best is sure to help you out. 

My biggest message here is really try to stick it out, really think about why you're away from home and talk about it with others because you definitely won't be the only one. The last thing you want to do is regret not being there when all the friends you've traveled with are uploading beautiful photos onto Facebook and Instagram. 

Homesickness does suck, but regret sucks even more. 

Have you ever felt homesick? Let me know how you dealt with it in the comments below!

Until Wednesday, 

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