How to Combat Homesickness at University

University might be your first time living away from home, and the distance this creates between you and your familiar environment as well as your family and friends can take many students by surprise. Missing home is one of the most natural feelings in the world, even amidst the excitement of newfound independence, but when you find ways to manage these emotions, it can help you settle that little bit easier.

At LHA London, we know how tough this transition can be, and we want to help you combat homesickness by finding ways to unite your new life with the comfort of home.

Remember, experiencing homesickness is not negative, despite how it can make us feel. The best way to manage it is not to ignore it. Listen to what you need, but don’t let it scare you away from chasing your dreams.

What is homesickness?

Homesickness is a feeling that arises when you move to a new or unfamiliar environment and lose the comfort of home. This can be due to the distance created between you and your family, or the lack of familiarity in your surroundings.

Symptoms of homesickness

Homesickness can have both emotional and physical responses that are difficult to manage, but completely normal. It is a biological response to change and a lack of community, and the symptoms can vary from person to person.

However, knowing what to look for can help you identify the early signs and manage your response:

• Feelings of sadness and grief
• Thoughts that constantly tug you back to home and cause distraction
• Longing for home
• Lethargy in your new routine
• A general feeling that you’re not yourself
• Loneliness
• Lack of motivation
• Feeling physically unwell without cause
• Unexplained changes to appetite and sleeping routine

How to manage homesickness

Set dates to go home and see family

Knowing exactly when you are going to see your family again can be one of the best ways to combat homesickness. When you set a date, you will have reassurance that you’ll be able to hug them soon.

If you have moved far from home or even abroad for university, this can be particularly important as you may not be able to go home as regularly as you’d like.

Uncertainty can feed into that feeling of longing, and being able to look forward to some family time will give you an end date to this emotion. It can also help you get through the more difficult study days.

In the meantime, it can help to schedule weekly phone or video calls so that you can see each other’s faces and stay updated on what’s happening at home. Sometimes, just hearing the voice of someone you love and knowing they are okay can be enough to ease your worries.

Create a home away from home

Make yourself at home in your new home. This will by no means eradicate the feeling completely, especially with your family so far away, but it will make you feel more comfortable as you get to grips with your new environment.

Littering your accommodation with home comforts can lessen homesickness. These will be unique to you, as every home and family is different, but the following ideas can be a good place to start:

• Keeping a packet of spices from your favourite home cooked cuisine
• Packing a cookbook that your family frequently uses
• Having a keyring with imagery of your home on it
• Bringing your favourite soft toys or blanket
• Wearing meaningful jewellery
• Packing one or two comfort books/ films that you watch with family
• Drinking out of your favourite mug
• Setting up your nightlight/lamp from home on your bedside table to recreate a familiar atmosphere
• Lighting a candle that your family burn regularly
• Creating a string of photographs

Familiarise yourself with your environment

Oftentimes, homesickness occurs as a result of missing the familiarity of your home town. You knew how to get around, you knew the best bakery for breakfast, where the library was. You could walk down your street without looking, and pinpoint where traffic would be worst in the morning.

When you live somewhere for a long time, you adjust to the environment and it’s only natural to long for that sense of ease when you leave it behind.

However, it will only be a matter of time until the location of your university becomes second nature.

There are, however, plenty of ways that you can speed up this process by getting to grips with your new surroundings:

1. Familiarise yourself with local bus routes
2. Go for regular walks
3. Turn exploration into a competition by finding the best snacks in your area
4. Research local festivals and activities
5. Join weekly social clubs
6. Go on an adventure to local landmarks
7. Set up study groups in local cafes, libraries and parks

Avoid isolating yourself

Leading on from this, one of the worst things you can do when you feel homesick is isolate yourself. It can feel tempting to sit at home and wallow, we completely understand how heartwrenching the feeling of missing home can be and you might not feel like going out when it hits, but this will only make you feel worse.

Invite your friends over, and discuss how you are feeling with them. You will find that many of your fellow students are experiencing similar emotions and talking to someone who understands will ease the pressure for both of you.

Try not to hyperfocus on social media

Social media can bring you closer to your family and friends but seeing photos of them spending time together without you can deepen the feeling of homesickness and make you wish you were there with them.

If you find yourself experiencing these feelings or dwelling on what you are missing, it might be time to take a small break.

You yourself are experiencing your own new adventure, and by following your path, you are not missing out on anything. You will be reunited with them soon when you can spend some quality time catching up and making more memories together.

Find communities that you can communicate with

If you have moved to London to study abroad, the language barrier can make you feel isolated and longing for home, which is why it can benefit you to find friends, communities or staff who you can communicate easily with.

Universities and accommodation with multilingual staff can help you settle in with ease, as you won’t need to worry about being misunderstood as you get to grips with speaking in your second language daily.

Seek support

Homesickness is a perfectly natural feeling, but if you are feeling a deep sense of depression or you can’t seem to make the feelings go away by yourself, it might be time to seek support.

Most universities will have resources available to help you manage homesickness, and they are there for you to use. Moving away from home is difficult, and you should not feel embarrassed about needing additional support to get you through the transition.

At LHA London, we want everyone to feel at home in London. We offer safe and secure accommodation for domestic students and international students. We know it can be tough moving to a new city, but we have guests from all over the world, with similar circumstances to yours. So no matter what’s going on, you’re bound to find a family in LHA.

Almost all of our friendly staff live onsite so there’s always someone around should you want anything, or just need to talk.

Our hostels cover all major points on the city’s map and cover your bills too, so you don’t need to worry about any additional costs while you focus on building the life you want.

For more information about how our charity can help you get set up in the big city, take a look at our available accommodation and don’t forget to check out our offer to discover what we can offer you.