Let’s talk about feeling homesick and creating a home far away from home. In this episode we’re going to talk about the differences between our homecountry and our new country (Portugal) when it comes to traditions and culture. We share what we’ve done so far to integrate in the Portugese culture and we talk about our favorite Portugese tradition.
Also we share what we miss most about our homecountries and how we deal with missing family and friends. Last but not least we discuss if we could see ourselves living in Portugal forever… Enjoy listening and don’t forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app (we’re on Spotify, Amazon Music & Apple Podcasts) and subscribe to our channel on YouTube – we have video episodes as well!
With love, April Betts & Anna Jirina.
About From Lisbon With Love
Welcome to From Lisbon With Love! A podcast about real stories of love, laughter, and life in Lisbon — from women who have left it all behind. We share real stories about moving to Lisbon, starting over and figuring life out along the way. We talk love, dating, friendships, breakups, healing, growing, all of it. Basically, the stuff we usually talk about over coffee ☕️ or vinho 🍷. If you’re thinking about moving abroad, already here or just love honest conversations with heart: you’re in the right place! Learn more about our story here.
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Feeling homesick abroad
When you move abroad, it’s completely normal to feel homesick sometimes: You left your homecountry for a completely new place, with different cultural habits, people, traditions, food and so on. What feeling homesick looks like is different for everyone, but there’s some tricks that could help!
One thing that really works is creating a daily routine to stick to, because it helps you feel grounded and productive at the same time. Also taking care of both your physical and mental health is really important, so you’re more resilient to (negative) emotions that come to the surface. Staying connected to your loved ones will also help if you feel homesick, as well as integrating in your new culture.
When you feel homesick, it can also help to remind yourself why you’ve decided to move abroad – it’s all about new experiences and taking chances that come our way, isn’t it? Sometimes we forget our ‘why’ when we get soaked up in daily tasks, which is completely normal, but this can prolong the heavy feeling of homesickness.
How we deal with homesickness
For us, it wasn’t a matter if we would feel homesick at some point, but when. It happened at random moments when we least expected it, as we discuss in this episode. Also we talk about how we deal with feeling homesick and what we’ve done to feel more at home in our new country. Do you want to hear all about it? Listen the episode via the audio player above or on your favorite podcast platform (we’re on Spotify, Amazon Music & Apple Podcasts).
Luckily we have build amazing friendships here – so there’s always people that we can count on when we’re feeling low. But it took a while to find likeminded people, as we explain in episode 2, where we talk about our struggles making friends in a new country.
Creating new traditions in a new country
Also creating new traditions is really important when you’ve moved abroad. How that looks like is completely up to you! It can be something that you used to love in your homecountry but it can also be something completely new – something that fits your new country and culture. Also it depends on your interests and hobbies and of course the people you’ve surrounded yourself with.
Especially the holidays are great for creating new traditions with your chosen family – a.k.a. the friends that you made in your new country. You could gather for the special days for a lovely homemade dinner of brunch, a game night, a picnic in the park, painting, movie marathon, journalling, visionboarding or whatever makes you happy!
