Some advice from Britannia Movers International about that homesick feeling.

Homesickness can be a terrible thing.  People suffering from homesickness feel disorientated, physically sick, sad and angry that they have been forced to leave a place they loved.  No matter how lovely, there is nothing right about their new home; and the greater the distance they move, the worse it can be.

Chaps, of course, don’t like to admit to anything as sissy as being homesick.  They might not like it, but most suffer just as much as the girls.  Having made a long-considered, mutually agreed decision to move home, neither feel that they want to admit it – at least, not to each other. Nor are children immune. 

People who move abroad probably suffer most.  They complain that they don’t like the weather, the beer, their job, the bugs … almost anything really other than just admitting they are homesick.  For some it gets so bad that they give up and go home – then, a remarkable thing happens: they realise why they went in the first place.

We generally do not suffer homesickness for places; it’s the experiences we shared there that matter to us.  A home is simply a stage set for your life; move away and the experiences stay with you, it’s just the backdrop that changes.  It’s the start of Act 2. The best way to begin the cure is simply to go back for a visit. Whether you are returning from New Zealand or from the next village, a quick trip back will remind you that the place where your memories were formed, still exists.  You haven’t lost anything, you’ve just repainted the scenery.

You should expect to be homesick and recognise it when it arrives.  It has been described as like getting over flu and a broken love affair at the same time.  Horrid! Admit it to each other and make sure the kids do too. Spend time looking at photos.  Call your old friends to say hello. Invite them round for dinner. The very experience of helping each other through the sickness is something that you share in your new home and, before you know it, the story of your lives has begun again, just in a different place.

The faster you can restart the narrative of your lives, in your new home, the faster homesickness will leave you.  Get involved in the local community: say hello to the neighbours; join the tennis/bridge/running/photographic or stamp-collecting club.  Get involved.  British people are naturally reserved: hide in the dark and they won’t beat a pathway to your door. Invite them in and they’ll warm to you in minutes.