Homesickness busting tips for expats, courtesy of Halifax International

News - Living

Thursday, 19 November 2009 15:14

Relocating to another country, whether to retire or as part of your career, is a move steeped in a heady mix of glamour, excitement and trepidation. But the flip-side of the anticipation of your new life can sometimes be the thought of everything you’re leaving behind.

Halifax International's recent Expat Mood Monitor – a survey of 1,000 expats living all over the world – looked into the things that people miss most about the UK when they relocate. Not surprisingly, not many said they miss the weather, but the findings help paint a picture of the idealised life that’s been left behind. And it looks a little like this...

Lavish helpings of Marmite on thickly-cut slices of Marks & Spencer’s finest bread, with a pint of real ale served while relaxing in the comfortable surroundings of your John Lewis inspired home.

Compared with most people’s idea of what life abroad must be like, this might not sound like much of a scene to get misty-eyed about. But these were among some of the specific elements of the UK that expats living abroad missed the most in the Expat Mood Monitor survey.

The stereotypical view of a new life overseas probably includes all the usual clichés – breathtaking vistas, fabulous food, exciting cultural experiences and perhaps a less stressful pace of life. Indeed, the decision to relocate can be a wonderful opportunity to immerse yourself in a whole new way of life in a country where everything from the weather, and language, to law and religion are new and sometimes extremely different to life in the UK. It’s not too surprising then that the excitement of a new way of life can sometimes conceal pangs of homesickness.

When the dust finally begins to settle after the big move, routines become established and the exotic gradually becomes the everyday. This can be the time when cracks begin to appear in the carefully sculpted Expat Utopia. In fact, it would be rare to find an expat who hasn’t, at one time or another, craved the familiarity of life back home, and it can be small details that throw such feelings into sharp relief; as the Expat Mood Monitor found, Marks & Spencer and Marmite are two everyday examples of just that.

Another tried and trusted cliché, that of the British stiff upper lip, is all well and good. But there’s no need for anyone to either suffer in silence or splendid isolation any longer.

Here are a few simple suggestions to try and help manage the early stages of expatriation, and ensure that the pangs of homesickness remain at the mild end of the scale:

Take advantage of technology – If you’re not overly familiar with the internet and its accessories, taking the time to find out will enable you to reach out to other expats through online forums and blogs – to understand how others are coping and get answers to your burning questions. Webcams are also a fantastic way of bringing conversations with your friends and family to life.

Make an effort – The thought of meeting new people and making new friends can seem daunting but creating positive social networks and having supportive people around you is vital for your emotional wellbeing abroad – especially considering the ready-made support groups in the form of friends and family that many will have left behind. Involve yourself in as many new activities as you can to help formulate bonds with those who share similar interests.

Maintain relationships with home – Keeping up to date with your friends’ and family’s lives will prevent you from feeling isolated. The popularity and ever-growing choice of social media channels such as Facebook or Twitter are a great supplement to the traditional phone call and email. Downloading programs such as Skype that allow you to make free PC to PC videocalls gives you the ability to videoconference with distant friends. Many of our customers who live abroad and use offshore banking services state that beyond having access to currencies other than Sterling and the ability to have income paid gross of tax, simply having a link back to home and the ability to manage their finances in their own language has a reassuring effect.

Partner problems – Spouses trailing their partners can be particularly susceptible to feeling homesick, as they are often not absorbed into a new job and the social network that comes with it, and without a ready-made network to plug into can quickly begin to feel isolated.

Taking it slow – Making several short trips over the course of a year to the place you want to move to and renting before committing to buying ensure that you can gradually adapt to and feel more comfortable with a new culture, rather than experiencing a sudden culture shock.

Not everyone who moves abroad is so sentimental however. The Expat Mood Monitor also discovered that 41% of expats living around the world have no plans to ever return to the UK, and that the main reasons for leaving the UK in the first place (in priority order) were:
For a better quality of life (56%)
Work (44%)
To escape the weather (27%)
To escape the youth culture and crime (20%)

Nevertheless, expats did still miss elements of the UK, the most popular factor being family or people (44%), followed by the culture, with one third (30%) of expats confessing that they miss the traditional British way of life.

It goes without saying that most expats will miss home at some point and that it can take a while to adjust to a new environment. However by taking a few simple steps it is possible to mitigate the impact of missing home and ensure that British staples like Marmite remain at the back of your cupboard, not the front of your mind.