Overcoming Homesickness: finding comfort for skilled migrants in Australia
Overcoming Homesickness: Finding Comfort While Living Abroad
Moving to a new country is exciting and full of possibilities, but it also comes with challenges. One of the most common experiences for people who have migrated to Australia is homesickness. While it’s often strongest in the early days of settling into a new life, homesickness can occur at any time. Some people are surprised when these feelings appear even after living in their new country for years, especially around significant events like birthdays, weddings, or the birth of children. Experiencing this is completely normal.
Understanding Homesickness and Why It Happens
Homesickness can show up in many ways. Emotionally, you might feel sadness, anxiety, or a desire to withdraw from social situations. Physically, it can affect your sleep, appetite, or cause stomach discomfort. Most people experience a mix of emotional and physical symptoms when they are missing home.
These feelings often emerge because you’re longing for familiar people, places, and routines — the things that give you a sense of comfort and belonging. For migrants, homesickness can be triggered by smells, sights, or sounds that remind you of life back home.
Recognising the Signs
The signs of homesickness can vary. Some people feel it intensely and may even consider returning home. Others experience it more subtly, sometimes without realising that their sadness is connected to missing home. Often, it’s not the whole country that’s missed but specific elements, like a daily interaction with a neighbour, a favourite meal, or a familiar street.
Ways to Cope With Homesickness
Incorporating small practices into your daily life can help ease the intensity of homesickness. If you notice the emotional or physical symptoms mentioned above, trying some of these approaches can provide support while you adjust to life in Australia.
It’s important to remember that the goal isn’t to eliminate homesickness entirely. Instead, honour and embrace the feelings that arise, recognising them as part of your journey. Doing so can help you feel more grounded, connected, and supported as you navigate life transitions in a new country.
If you feel overwhelmed, seeking counselling for migrants or support from people who understand the migrant experience can provide guidance and reassurance. There are safe spaces where your experiences, feelings, and memories are validated, helping you grow and find comfort while living abroad.
Tips For Finding Comfort While Living Abroad – Practical Ways to Cope
-Connect to your culture through food, this is one of the quickest ways to feel as if you are being hugged by those you miss. It can be a special dish that only your Mum makes or a special snack that reminds you of growing up sometimes just the smell of ingredients can be all that you need to soothe your soul
-Surround yourself with items that remind you of home, this can be photos or trinkets placed around the house or a special album on your phone filled with photos of the people and places who are no longer close by. It could be a handmade blanket to wrap yourself up in every night.
-Phone home regularly, don’t make this a thing you only do when you are at a breaking point. Keeping regular contact makes it easier to reach out when you are feeling down and can be done in many ways, phone and video calls, voice messages, txts and memes.
-Create new traditions, life in a new country means a lot of things change. It’s a great opportunity to establish new ways of doing things that are important to you. Creating your own traditions will help anchor you to your new world, helping you establish strong roots in Australia while incorporating the traditions you already cherish
-Join an association, group or club that you identify with, a challenge shared is a challenge halved. It can be really helpful to be around people who are going through a similar experience to you. Here’s a few I suggest
Professional Migrant Women Community
Asian Australian Professionals Collective
The Women of Colour Founders Network
-Mediate, meditation is so powerful it helps you connect into the feelings that can transform you to another time and place, creating a regular meditation practice can be one of the best ways to help relieve feelings of homesickness. My favourite App for Meditations is Insight Timer.
Embracing Homesickness, Not Fighting It – It’s okay to feel this way.
Homesickness isn’t a sign that you don’t belong in Australia and you need to leave, the feelings you experience are reminding you of the strong connections you have and the need to nourish them in a different way now that you have established life in another country.
Remember that it’s a matter of when not if you will experience homesickness but when and the best way to move through when it does arrive is to embrace it like a dear old friend would after not seeing you in years, homesickness is a signal from your body that you need to care and nourish yourself with the familiar things that make you feel at home wherever you may be.
