Traveling and living abroad is the experience of a lifetime, but returning home can be challenging.
Many people are aware of culture shock and how that can affect someone who is traveling to a new place, but most are unaware of the “reverse culture shock” that can be experienced upon returning home.
I did not think I would experience too much of this “reverse culture shock” – I was only gone for one semester and I was excited to be reunited with my friends and family.
Of course, upon my immediate arrival, I was overjoyed to be home and to see my friends and family and share my experiences with them. But my elation faded quickly and I found myself deeply missing my life abroad.
Here are some of the things that I have experienced since coming home and how I have coped with them.
Adjusting back to a more serious schedule
When I got home, I immediately went back to working. I spent the summer waking up at 5:30 a.m. to work two different jobs. Obviously this was a huge change; I didn’t have to work while I was in Italy and I spent my days planning where I was going to visit next. I constantly found myself dreaming of my life abroad, but I made myself focus on my jobs, the new people I was meeting at these jobs and finding my favorite parts about my work. This helped me to say positive and focused while I was at work.
When I got back to school, I was met with another shock: schoolwork at home is very different from schoolwork abroad. My schoolwork is a lot more rigorous now than it was during my semester abroad, and I’ve had to readjust to keep up with my work. Finding friends in my classes who keep me motivated has helped me a ton. They keep me on top of my schedule and motivated to stay focused and work hard. It has taken me a few weeks, but I’m finally settling back into my usual school schedule.
Reconnecting with friends and family
I am so lucky that I have the most amazing, supportive friends and family. I was surprised at the airport by my best friends accompanied by my family and I can’t even describe the excitement I felt when I saw them. Quickly I realized that my friends had changed, as had I. Plus, being seniors, we are all in different places and focusing on different things.
I have found that I have needed to make more efforts to remain close to my friends. I can’t relate to them about things that have happened while I was gone, and I don’t want to overpower them with stories of things that I did during the semester.
It can also be hard when something brings back a memory from last semester and I don’t have anyone to share it with. To cope with this, I have made an effort to visit a friend that I became really close with during the semester and we keep in touch very well. We have helped each other to navigate through the process of returning home.
Changing Diets
Food is very different country to country and adjusting to these different diet styles can take some time. Going to Italy, I was so excited at the prospect of eating pizza and pasta all the time, which I did of course. But coming back from that was a huge adjustment. Not only did I realize how different my diet had become, I have finally moved into an apartment and have to cook for myself.
This was a big adjustment for me, but I look to my roommate for support and ideas of how to grocery shop and what to cook. I also ask my mom for my favorite recipes so I can have something to look forward to making for myself.
Moving home can be a challenge after living and traveling abroad, but staying positive and using your resources around you makes all the difference. Just remember, there’s no place like home!
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