You recognize this when you are homesick

Sun, beach, the best food... And yet you crave that sandwich with old cheese. Preferably with a glass of buttermilk in a Boerenbont cup. Okay, I'm going a bit overboard, but I can have dream images of it. Longing for the Netherlands, longing for the past. Because that Boerenbont cup has of course long been replaced by something cozy from Urban Nature Culture.

Homesickness is most common in children, but I can suffer from it too. In Los Angeles during the filming of Holland’s Next: a crying heart. Or at the end of fashion month. It seems like the most luxurious life that exists, but when you're there without your loved ones, you can feel incredibly lonely in Paris. Homesickness, in short. It also occurs in adults and this is how you deal with it.

1. Name it and accept it

That is often already half the solution to the problem: acknowledging it. You have homesickness. Think about what you miss and say it out loud. Call the person you miss and also think about how long it will be before you are back.

2. Make the best of it

Okay, you have homesickness and you miss your loved ones, but as I wrote yesterday: every cloud has a silver lining so there is surely a positive side to be found. You have more time for yourself, so you can finally clean up that mailbox, you have time to exercise, and you can make a photo book.

3. Bring a bit of home to the present

I interned in Singapore and also had a lot of trouble with homesickness there. With my English friend Juliëtte, we went to the other side of the city to find real heavy bread. We ate that with a cup of hot tea and when we really struggled, we turned the air conditioning extra cold and dove under a duvet. Yes, very bad for the environment, I know. I would never do that now, but it was so nice back then.

4. Take it into account in advance

If you know that you easily suffer from homesickness, you can bring some familiar things with you. Some bags of your favorite tea, a few photos in frames, a scented candle that you also have at home, or a scarf that smells like your loved one.

And before you know it, you're home again and... You long for that peace on that beach bed....