Four months ago, after much deliberation I finally got off my ass, took action and moved to Thailand… and now I feel homesick already -_-. The first three months living in Thailand I didn’t feel even the slightest bit homesick, possibly from being distracted by the novelty of being in a new country. But then the homesickness kicked in and when it did, it hit hard. For a month now I miss England, and the homesickness seems to be so unrelenting that I even started to question… is it actually homesickness or am I simply ‘done in Thailand’ already?
I’ve adapted to the hectic environment of Bangkok and learned a lot too. But at the same time… I miss home – I miss the music… food.. I miss snow and wrapping up in the cold weather (and not being sweaty!) and I miss having a stable job and income! I find it difficult to get a proper job in Thailand and am gradually eating away through my life savings. To put it simply: Should I really be wasting my hard earned money mooching around in the sun when I’m not gaining much else from it?
So grey and Englandy!
Living in Thailand has made me learn not to take my home for granted, to appreciate it when I do get home. This insight alone has made my trip to Thailand worth everything already. The grass is always greener on the other side and as much as Thailand has always had a romantic and paradisal association in my mind, it still has it’s imperfections just like every other country. People can still be unfriendly… or even annoying! Just as much so as in my own country. I love Thailand but in reality it has many positives and it also has it’s weaknesses just like anywhere else…
You can search and search for that part missing in your life but moving to the other side of the world does not necessarily automatically cure the naturally miserable, grumbly bastards like me…. some us just need to learn that for ourselves. I think that all the discontentedness some of us feel is inside our heads and if we want to be truly happy, we need to examine inside our minds rather than the world outside. Otherwise we will never be happy no matter where we live.
…It’s still badass to move to a tropical country though!
So I try not to let my homesickness delude me, it’s important to appreciate and make the most of the opportunity to live within such an interesting and lively culture. Living in another country, as opposed to travelling, can teach you a lot more and provide you with some much more realistic and unique experiences. Bangkok is an awesome city to live in… So I will suck it up, get me a nice roast dinner from the pub and listen to some Red hot chili peppers until I am cured once again.
A good cure to homesickness? Socialize and meet people in Thailand.
Update! Turns out homesickness and culture shock hits you a lot harder in reverse, when you actually return back to your rather uneventful hometown… if you’re feeling homesick and in need of some positive thinking or appreciation of all things Thai, read about my return to England here.
I have been looking into moving out of the USA and have found Pattaya to be extremely inviting. Then I read this and need to chat with people that actually live there and see how things are.
Stick with it! I was backpacking through Asia for a year and a half, and I got very homesick around month 3 or 4. It’ll pass…. Head down to a British pub for a few pints. Hope things are working out work-wise for you.
Cheers!
Thanks Dylan! Awesome… A year and a half of backpacking must’ve been hard going. But yeah, just going to the pub really does help – and I feel way better now 😉
Very nice 🙂
Thank you :3
Found out blog by accident :).We kinda switch places here, I now live in England and miss Thailand, my family and my friends.
Our countries are so different and once the period of excitement is over, the loneliness and culture shock are bound to kick in hard. I tend to go home very often, but sometimes find it a bit tough to come back here. Yet if you are planning to be there for just a year, stick it out. And, this might sound harsh, but DON’T mix with your own nationality too much, because it will make you miss home even more. I hardly have any Thai friends here in the UK, mainly English and some other European nationalities. It does help because it will make you feel like you belong there to some extent. Try getting Thai friends by volunteering, I say we love getting to know foreigners!
Interesting to hear from a reverse perspective! I’ve just moved back to England since writing this actually – Thailand became more of a home to me than England ever will be and, like you, moving back has been much worse. You’ll probably agree that England is a little uneventful and dull compared to the spontaneity of living in Thailand. In fact, I was just in the middle of writing a post about it 🙂 I’ve gotta say that I personally felt the opposite way to you about mixing with my own nationality though. I think it helped me to mix with both Thais and expats from all over the world. Mixing with locals definitely makes you feel more like you belong, but also mixing with other expats that you can relate to about homesickness helps ease loneliness sometimes for me.