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Are you Homesick? Take the Quiz!

Homesick

Life is full of changes. Moving is one change that can be unexpectedly more difficult than just finding movers, packing, and setting up a new home. The transition from one place to another hits us deeply. Often times, people get homesick during this transition time. Homesickness manifests in several ways. It can make people teary and anxious. It can upset sleep, eating habits, and focus. It can also be a lonely time that makes a person isolate him or herself, making the loneliness worse. It can make embracing your new city harder than it should be.

Think you might be homesick? Take the quiz below to find out!

Take the Homesick Quiz!

Give yourself one point for every question where you agree with the statement.

 

1. I recently moved somewhere new, at least 50 miles from my last home.
2. Since moving, I have been inexplicably anxious, stressed, or tense on a   regular basis.
3. I think about my last home every day and compare my new home to it.
4. Nearly every day I think about what I am missing at my old home with my friends and family.
5. Since I moved, I have lost my appetite, have insomnia, feel very lonely, or just haven’t felt like myself.
6. I am not making the effort to go out and meet new people or engage with my new city in general.
7. I idealize my old home in my mind, making it more beautiful and fun than it may be.
8. I wish I was back at (old) home.
 

How Did You Score?

Your Score: 0-1

You’re not homesick at all! While you love your old home, you look at it kind of like a superhero origin story – it contributed to you in all your wonderful awesomeness, but you are happy and excited to accomplish new things and go new places! Home is wherever you make it!

Your Score: 2-4

It’s likely you’re a bit homesickness, not really enough to impact your everyday life. You may reminisce a bit, but it’s not stopping you from taking some baby steps to make your new digs feel like home. Vow to try something new each week, join a MeetUp group, or just find your new favorite coffee shop. Start putting down some roots!

Your Score: 5+

You’re homesick. It’s okay, we’ve all been there at some time or another and it’s a completely human thing. We all long for our old homes because we like the comfort of the predictability, stability, and consistency of it. During transitions from old to new, we can often internalize our fear of learning a whole new normal. The best way to pull yourself out of your homesickness is to go out and meet your new city. Find the new place you will do your favorite thing. Love yoga? Try out all the studios until you find the one you love! Love beer? Check out all the nearby breweries to find out where you want to have your Friday night stout infusion. Once you start, you’ll find you want to find the best place for dim sum and tacos and everything else. Treat the experience like you’re on vacation and be a tourist in your new city for a month. The homesickness will fade eventually, and you’ll fall in love with your new home.

When you’re homesick, it also doesn’t hurt to have a piece of your old home to hold onto. It may be a favorite chair or products from your favorite spa. Smells are also a great way to invite the nostalgia of that your past home into your new home with a candle that brings you back there, if just for a moment. All you have to do is flick a match and you’re home again.