By: Tessa Earnshaw, Michelle Gomez, Gabrielle McLaren, and Winona Young
When my parents helped me move into residence, I didn’t want them to leave. I talked to them
every day, but that only made me miss them more. Going home for Thanksgiving made it worse; I cried when I arrived, and cried even harder when I left. The homesickness made my heart ache.
I soon discovered that the best way to beat homesickness was to give myself a reason to want to be here. I made friends and we explored the city and went on adventures together. Making memories in my new home helped me feel less homesick for my old one.
– Tessa Earnshaw
This time last year, I was boarding a flight and heading to Spain for a semester abroad — my first time ever living outside of Vancouver. Not only was I living away from home for the first time, but I went completely alone.
My first two weeks surprised me in the sense that I did not feel homesick at all; I was meeting new friends, getting to know Barcelona, and making fun plans every day. But after the initial excitement, the homesickness settled in and I missed my friends, my family, and the delicious mountain water that I had always taken for granted.
The main thing that I found helped me was talking about my homesickness with my new friends from abroad, who were going through the exact same thing. Calling my friends and family was also a great way to keep in touch and remind myself of home. The feeling passed after my first month abroad; by the end of my exchange, I was extremely sad to leave and wished I could stay longer.
To other students struggling with homesickness: it will pass and you will wish that you had spent more energy enjoying your time in your new home rather than missing your old one.
-Michelle Gomez
I picked up my life to come to Vancouver quite willingly, without ever having seen the city before or knowing a single person here, except this long-lost cousin I’ve yet to touch bases with but who I might apparently recognize from a commercial he was in. Maybe this was stupid, but I was looking for an adventure.
I got one, and I’ve fallen in love with the city, the mountains, and the ocean, but homesickness inevitably struck (and will undoubtedly strike again). This was especially when things weren’t going well — when I could use a ride, when I was lonely, when I was stuck trying to figure out something my Mom could do in an instant, when nobody had spoken French to me in a while — that kind of thing.
My advice? Screw homesickness, and build a new home. It doesn’t have to be the same as home, but it should be a home. Build yourself a support system. You can’t miss the way your parents were always there to lend a hand if two of your friends are sitting on your floor and helping you build IKEA furniture while shouting double-entendres about the allen wrench.
Build new traditions for yourself to make home home; that way, when you do get home, you miss the fresh Poké you had at every study session with so-and-so. Do something you couldn’t do back home but can now; mine was having plants to water, care for, and look at in my bedroom. The best way to fight homesickness, for me, was by plunging myself even more into Vancouver’s beat when the homesickness hit.
-Gabrielle McLaren
There’s two ways to deal with homesickness: positively, and poorly. So if you want to remedy your homesickness properly, I recommend dealing with it positively.
First up, food — use the opportunity of moving to explore the city for familiar comfort foods. It may taste different, but it helps you feel a bit closer to home.
Second, messaging apps are your friend. Long distance relationships of any kind are always hard to maintain, so work hard at maintaining them.
Finally, know that you don’t need to love Vancouver/Burnaby/Surrey/wherever you are. Even if this is a permanent or temporary place for you, remember that it will never be your home country/city/town. And that’s OK. Accept where you are as it is, and begin from there. Once you accept it, living with homesickness will just be the slightest bit easier.
-Winona Young
