Becoming an OFW is just the start. Living and thriving as one are two different stories, though. But as we all know, one of the big challenges OFWs have to face is having to live apart from their friends and families back home – their comfort zone.
ALSO READ: 6 Reasons Why Becoming an OFW May Not Be For You
The struggles of living alone and apart from loved ones are not just scary but more importantly, they are difficult to deal with emotionally and mentally. And it’s also important to acknowledge feelings of homesickness as normal and part of the life of an OFW.
5 Easy Ways to Overcome Homesickness
In this post, we will share some easy and practical ways for OFWs to cope with and overcome homesickness.
#1. Prioritize time to communicate with family.
Our family is the source of our strength and inspiration for most of the things we do in life and is the reason why we do these things in the first place. So it’s common sense to keep constant communication with them.
And because the means to communicate is no longer a barrier in this day and age, perhaps the bigger challenge is how we can make time for this commitment. This is especially difficult if we’re working several jobs in a day. But again, technology can help us better manage our time – we can do this by setting calendar invites and reminders to help us commit to our goals which, hopefully, should include staying in touch with our loved ones.
#2 Face the reality of your situation and make the experience fun and worthwhile.
Accepting one’s new norm and reality of living away from family and friends should be at the top of any OFW’s immediate personal goals because the sooner we accept our situation, the better and more creative we can think of ways to make good use of our time overseas.
#3 Take on a new hobby or an activity that will tap into your inner creativity.
Although difficult at first, working overseas has a lot of advantages for the OFW. It’s no good dwelling on what you miss back home when there are so many new things for you to explore in your new life in your host country. Discover new ways for you to improve yourself and express creativity by joining local classes offered in your area. This will not only help you pick up a new skill, but this will also connect you to new people and, hopefully, new friends who can support you in your life abroad.
#4 Start a business you can manage even while abroad.
Since a lot of OFWs’ goals for working overseas is anchored on providing better for their families, one great way to do this is to start your own business which you can manage remotely or from overseas. Not only will this help you financially, but this will also keep you busy leaving no time for you to entertain loneliness or feelings of homesickness.
#5 Find (an online) part-time work.
Fun fact: A lot of bloggers and writers in the Philippines are actually OFWs who have discovered their creative outlet to cope with their life overseas through words and writing. Also, you can monetize your experiences abroad by documenting and sharing things that can help others especially OFWs such as yourself to cope with their feelings of homesickness or to learn new things through your perspective and experiences, which others may find useful.
These are just a few things to help you cope up with homesickness, and we’re sure that there are still more creative ways you can explore out there.
What do you think? Do you have anything that you would like to add to our list? You can share your insights by writing to us through the comment box below!