Homesickness? Not Me. 3 Reasons Why.
We had a few friends over at our house this past Friday. Part of the evening's discussion was about the recent three-month trip overseas that one friend, "Addie", took with his wife. They spent time in a few different countries and a month on a cruise in the Antarctic.
"Did you feel homesick at all?" another friend asked Addie. The friend then explained how he felt sick and agitated on a long trip away from home years ago, and found it all cleared up as soon as he got home. Those are classic symptoms of homesickness, which he figured upon reading up on it once home. (Simple reference: Wikipedia page on homesickness.)
Addie said he never felt homesick on his trip. That made sense to me, as in all my travel the past many years I've never felt homesick. Oh, I've always been happy to get home. But that's not the same as feeling homesick while being away.
"I've never felt homesick in all my travels," I told the group. "I've found that what keeps it at bay is three things: comfort, engaging activity, and companionship."
BTW, how does this compare to a more authoritative source? Well, if you check the Wikipedia page I mentioned above and look in the "Protective factors" section you'll see the phrase high decision control. That's not something I thought of when making my own list of helpful factors, but that's because it's been the air around me. You rarely pause to think about the air around you- until it changes noticeably. High decision control is a factor present in virtually all of my travel. I may not always like the place I'm at, I may not always like what I'm doing or whom I'm doing it with, I may be there for fundamentally unhappy reasons such as a death in the family; but I'm there by choice. I can choose where to go or to go at all, how and when to travel, and where to stay. And perhaps most importantly, I choose when to leave.
"Did you feel homesick at all?" another friend asked Addie. The friend then explained how he felt sick and agitated on a long trip away from home years ago, and found it all cleared up as soon as he got home. Those are classic symptoms of homesickness, which he figured upon reading up on it once home. (Simple reference: Wikipedia page on homesickness.)
Addie said he never felt homesick on his trip. That made sense to me, as in all my travel the past many years I've never felt homesick. Oh, I've always been happy to get home. But that's not the same as feeling homesick while being away.
"I've never felt homesick in all my travels," I told the group. "I've found that what keeps it at bay is three things: comfort, engaging activity, and companionship."
- Comfort- and Safety. Wherever I am, I've got to feel reasonably comfortable there. I need a good enough place to rest every night. It doesn't need to be the Waldorf Astoria. It could be sleeping in a tent. But if I can't get physically comfortable, or I don't feel reasonably safe or secure in my surroundings, I'll start feeling miserable after a while.
- Engaging Activity. A trip's about doing something. Whether it's work or leisure doesn't matter. I've got to feel like I'm doing something fulfilling.
- Companionship. It's always better with someone to share the experience with. That could be with my spouse ("my ride-or-die", she calls me), a friend, or a colleague.
BTW, how does this compare to a more authoritative source? Well, if you check the Wikipedia page I mentioned above and look in the "Protective factors" section you'll see the phrase high decision control. That's not something I thought of when making my own list of helpful factors, but that's because it's been the air around me. You rarely pause to think about the air around you- until it changes noticeably. High decision control is a factor present in virtually all of my travel. I may not always like the place I'm at, I may not always like what I'm doing or whom I'm doing it with, I may be there for fundamentally unhappy reasons such as a death in the family; but I'm there by choice. I can choose where to go or to go at all, how and when to travel, and where to stay. And perhaps most importantly, I choose when to leave.