“Homesickness: the feeling of longing for one's home during a period of absence from it”.
Whether it started from your parents or yourself, homesickness due to moving to university/college or another city/state is a very common feeling that we can all relate to. Moving away from your original nest or family is probably the most important decision you can make which requires a lot of maturity and bravery in accepting that you will have to be responsible for yourself and your early-stage adult life.
The reasons for leaving home can always be different and personal based on each person, but one reason that may be common to all of us is the need to be independent and find yourself somewhere else where you can be given the opportunity to grow, mature and form yourself. We all have dreams and hopes in this life, so if we know that in our home country it can’t be possible, why not take the risk and try something different that can make us discover a new side of ourselves that probably would have never come to light before?
Although you may be excited for a new start somewhere far away, you may feel that a part of yourself is missing and not as satisfied as you’d wish it to be. You may start missing your home country, your culture, cuisine, traditions, parents, relatives and childhood friends. Now, I know that sometimes even when trying, it is not easy to overcome it totally but, there are some tips that can be very helpful when needed.
As I am originally Moroccan, born and raised in Italy, it’s always my origin country that I miss, mostly due to my childhood memories created there. When I feel homesick, and trust me I do almost every day, I engage in finding the inner child inside of me who has memories related to this place and what made me happy about it. Therefore, I thought of sharing some tips to use such as organizing phone and video calls with relatives or friends back home to not feel alone and catch up, watching tv shows and movies from your country or in your native language that you probably used to watch with your family. Keep your culture alive at your current place by playing your traditional music and learning to cook your traditional dishes, find your community in the new place you moved to and engage with them in any social activity that can help you feel back home again.
Always remember that there are many feeling homesick in this world who had to leave their family and country to build a new life from scratch, so you will always find someone you can relate to from a similar background. Together you can make it less hard for both of you to overcome it.
It doesn’t matter how far away you are, home/family is always in you.