Homesickness During COVID Times: How do you deal with it?
A couple of days ago, I published a blog article on how to cope with homesickness. While writing, I kept the advice pretty generic. As I was promoting the blog on Instagram and I read through the comments, I realized I did not consider what kind of an effect the pandemic would have on our mutually shared feeling of homesickness.
So without further ado, here are some tips on how to overcome homesickness during this pandemic.
Distract yourself with your favorite hobby
I am a certified bookworm. I adore reading. Since March, 100 books must have switched from my to-read list to my archived-book list. Just by opening up a book and reading, I can allow myself to ignore the world around me for a moment, or for hours, or for an entire day.
Realizing that not everyone might be a fan of reading, I recommend doing what you are most passion about whether it is working out at home (because gyms are closed), drawing/painting/sketching, writing or gaming. If you are someone who struggles with the questions “What do I do if I have no idea what my passion is” or “I just end up scrolling through my phone despite having so many fun hobbies” then I am here to tell you: I get it. It is tough. But do what makes you feel most comfortable. If spending time on your phone helps you to relax and it is not affecting you badly then I dare say, continue scrolling!
Spend quality time with friends (online)
Since the pandemic started, I rarely get to see my friends in real life.
We learned very quickly how to make up for it. For a time, my friends and I played the game Among Us every night and we would sit in a Discord call and have the greatest time. (Unfortunately exam season is currently upon us and we have not been very active recently). If you are not a fan of Among Us, then you can play whatever game you want with friends.
Here are some of my personal recommendations of games/activities that can be done online while being on a voice/video call with friends:
- Cards Against Humanity
- Jklm.fun
- Scribbl.io
- Dungeons & Dragons
- UNO
- Backyard.co
- MarioKart (if you have a Nintendo Switch and an online membership)
- Watching a movie together (you can use Discord, Scener or the Netflix Party Chrome Extension)
Reconnecting with old friends
The lockdown has given us a lot of time to reflect and I ended up reconnecting with long-distance friends. Sometimes you get too wrapped up in your own life and local friends that you might forget about your long-distance ones. It can be difficult but I really recommend nurturing your friendships during this tough time. Schedule a weekly or monthly call with your friends to check up on each other and to spend some quality time together.
If that is too much for you because it might make you miss home more, then that is okay. Another option is to plan your next trip home and to get yourself hyped up about all the cool things you can do the next time you are there. Make an itinerary list of all the things you want to do once you are back home. You can even choose to explore your hometown by looking for new places to visit.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Let me know if any of these tips helped. If you would like to be featured on my Medium and want to have your story shared, send me a DM via Instagram under @diplomat.kid
Cheers!
