Loneliness when you're abroad

same here..when i am @ abroad..internet is best friend..but still ..  mising family..friends a lot.

to kill time......i m visiting malls , places..

I found taking along a portable hobby works great. Photography as an income and hobby, knitting or using a drop spindle; these things often generate interest from passers by and invite questions. Photography makes it easy too. Offer to take someone's photo with their camera, ask what others have found interesting in the area.

Pursuing something I enjoy doing brings familiarity. Learning to enjoy the moment wherever that may be takes practice. No expectations of yourself, just enjoy the moment and surprises will come.

This idea of lineliness is so true. I was in Norway last month for 10days and it was an interesting experience. Everything was in Norwegian,which made it hard to understand and I really missed home. Making friends in the destination country before visiting to relocating to the country makes it much easier to survive in the new country,or doing something that reminds you of home.

On that note,a number of us have decided to help make life much easier for Spanish speakers in Kenya. We have decided to hold amonthly Sunday service in Spanish as A.C.K church Westlands,along church road in Nairobi. This will be at the end of each month from 2:00 pm,starting this month of July. Anyone interested is free to join and or inbox me.
Lets make life easier for the foreigners in our countries!

Hmm I guess with expat.. somehow you are able to find people in the country you are in.. so helps solve the problem of loneliness

Hi,just joined this site.  At the minute I do feel lonely as I am trying to find work in Ibiza but it is very hard.  We have been here since February but only my husband works!  I would consider anything at the moment it gets so boring and we dont really have friends here so in the day its just me and my English cat.

try to this website ( couchsurfing.org )..sometimes when i had to do business trip..i try to contact friends from this website...they will help you to find good place and show us around their city....
it helps a lot for me...

so..just be a member and try it..

cheers,
Susi

of course we fell lonely specially when we were far from our family..working here in moscow is the loneliest part of my life..

Yes definitely., i was in the UK for a dew months with no one by my side., i walked alone but thats the advantage and the main source of how i met ppl there :p..
Reading is good for me. You're never alone with a book. that's absolutely true., reading is the best way to kill time., n why dont u go to places aroiund n talk to people., thats how you know them better..

photography and blogging help me. Although I still cry at night every now and then, but that's life. You just gotta do the best you can

like susiani mentioned, meeting new people helps overcome the loneliness. And staying happy and doing a hobby you like all those things that you do for yourself keeps you going...keep positive and enjoy life

oh god! i thought i am the only one batling with loneliness abroad, im not alone after all.

This is my first time to be away from home for a long time, im talking about a couple of years but i got a vacation in between. Im like a child i look forward into christmas, reunions, parties and birthdays, but now i dont know how to face these occations.

Just to fill my "loneliness space", im trying to get my self enjoy the places im in to, explore it and love it. have a feel of its sights and sounds. Im joining this forum to maybe somehow meet new friends and know more about the place where im at. I am also thinking about joining a certain group , join a yoga class or something so i wont get myself killed with work.

Life abroad is a mixture of sweet and spice and leaving a life with bed of roses but with thorns. It doesnt mean you are away you will have to change your life 360 degrees, rather you have to adjust to your new environment, do what you think that will make you happy and go with the flow.

[Moderated: Off topic]

I have been in Tanizania for about two weeks now and so far,the feeling of loneliness has been minimal. One of the most important things that I have realized if finding people with similar interests and spending some time together.

ive just been here in Dubai a few days and i feel miserable already. no one to talk to, dont know the places, no friends

It take some time to settle down but why don't you take a taxi and go to one of the big malls?
At least you can spend your time there and see what they sell.

I wish you good luck and take care.

thats wat i have planned to do now

I stay in brazil, and i would say brazilians are warm people, you can meet people in a bar or cafe.themain issue is the language. But saopaulo or rio you can still find people speaking english.

geminipower wrote:

ive just been here in Dubai a few days and i feel miserable already. no one to talk to, dont know the places, no friends

I was lucky because I moved to be with someone.
The first few days alone would be a lot harder.

Get out and about. Meet a few people and start a social circle.
You'll be back in top form in no time.

Hello guys,

I am new in Cairo and I hope I won't feel too lonely.
From my first impression,it looks very nice even though recent events don't seem very reassuring.

Could you please give me some advice on places to go, what neighborhood to choose ? I am really excited by all this change and I hope everything will be as nice as I expect.

Can you also tell me where I can buy basic stuff (computer, hair dryer...)

Thanks a lot in advance!

Bastien

I advise you to visit the Egypt forum so you ask your question there, follow this link

Good luck!

And welcome on board!

All i can say.. had anyone notice the age of this topic.. it had started more than 6 years ago and it is still active and alive.. which mean that feeling loneliness is common feeling between all humans all over the globe .. it doesn't mater age, status, place,
nationality, or profession .. Feeling lonely isn't a social state or condition even if you are between of friends and family.. loneliness is a state of mind.. everyone is trying hard to feel wanted and to be surrounded by others sharing same interests.. Don't forget the Human Being is a Social creature and wasn't created to live alone even in heaven..

i go online meeting new friend to create a new friend as soon as possible . but when i really lonely , i suppose i will go to watch some movies in cinema

I get busy with anything worthwhile to pass the time away. That way the loneliness is minimized.

For expats living abroad there are several different kinds of loneliness that they must deal with.

Loneliness for family & friends - This never goes away no matter how long you are in your host country, however it may become less pronounced over time. The only way to help combat this kind of loneliness is to maintain regular contact with home.

Loneliness for contact with a social circle - This sets in from the moment you arrive in your host country. You had lots of friends, went out and did things together at home. You need to establish a new social circle in your host country. No matter how difficult it may seem to you, you must go out, make friends.

Loneliness for your home country and culture - This depends completely on the stage of culture shock you are in and what your outcome of the culture shock experience to your host country was. There are three possible outcomes to culture shock; rejection of the new culture, adopting the new culture and finally blending the new culture with your home culture. 'Rejectors' will never accept the new culture and therefore missing home (which they see as perfect in EVERY way) will be so extreme that these individuals almost always go back home very quickly. 'Adopters' are those who accept all the aspects of there host country culture, they almost lose all traces of their former selves and become one of 'them'. These individuals tend to remain in their host country for the rest of their lives; they miss home very little if at all. 'Blenders' are truly cosmopolitan individuals, they have blended aspects of their host country culture and aspects of their home culture. These fit in almost anywhere they go. In their home country they will miss the country they lived in and in their host country they will miss home. They will not, however, miss it quite as badly as one would imagine.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog
(I'm and 'Adopter' love Brazil and will never leave, miss Canada just a bit. I've been here for over ten years now.)

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wjwoodward wrote:

There are three possible outcomes to culture shock; rejection of the new culture, adopting the new culture and finally blending the new culture with your home culture. 'Rejectors' will never accept the new culture and therefore missing home (which they see as perfect in EVERY way) will be so extreme that these individuals almost always go back home very quickly. 'Adopters' are those who accept all the aspects of there host country culture, they almost lose all traces of their former selves and become one of 'them'. These individuals tend to remain in their host country for the rest of their lives; they miss home very little if at all. 'Blenders' are truly cosmopolitan individuals, they have blended aspects of their host country culture and aspects of their home culture. These fit in almost anywhere they go. In their home country they will miss the country they lived in and in their host country they will miss home. They will not, however, miss it quite as badly as one would imagine.

I don't think I fit in with any of these categories.  I haven't rejected Chinese culture, but I haven't gone Chinese either.  I like my culture better, but I don't think it's perfect - not by a long shot.  I don't think Chinese culture is anything close to perfect either.  I'm still the same me I was back home and there's no way I'll stay here the rest of my life.  I'm certainly not cosmopolitan.

I feel more lonely back at home especially when it rains cause not much to do around here..
however, the loneliest i been was in Ocean shores, WA..  i guess caus it rains in sunny days over there, and its full of unfriendly problematic old people committing suicides due to depressing weather.. or their mental state weather not sure which;

For me, I take time out to surround myself with fun loving people.

To be lonely is not a disease but a way of life that has a solution.

Lets make more friends

I have never felt lonely really, in almost 9 years of life out of my homeland. I guess I was lucky to meet great new people, keep myself very entertained, stay in touch with love ones often enough or I am really a happy lonely soul! Dont know...but here in Latin America people is so family and friend oriented that I guess I didnt feel it much for that reason...I got "adopted" a lot.

feel lonely in my country and feel good outside it
but when I work more I feel good and forget every thing about loneliness

Julien wrote:

Do you often feel lonely when you're abroad?

I personaly suffered on week ends while I was in the UK. Even if I had several friends, I often missed my family and friends (from home). So I walked, visited museum, went to concerts, worked more... What about you?

What are you doing when you feel lonely?

Life away from home did brought a big impact in my life which I can say may not happen if I opt to just stay with my family.It made me a better person, be grateful for every little things that comes and was able to made my family understand that they can manage to let go of me bcoz Im a full grown bird now:-) every year I make sure I come for a short holiday to see my family because home is where the heart is. Most of the energy , inspiration and love I get it from where I came from.

Hi Julien
i usually find reading books , watching movie , sitting in street cafe and looking at people while thinking and reading sth is useful.
also if i ' m not in mode of being out doing sport is a great help

Sometimes I feel lonely as I am away from my family.

Hello,
We come from Egypt, we are here until Tuesday and need some information about malmo, could you help us,thanks lot

I agree with saipan when i get lonely i surf on internet

usually a glass of wine staves off the severe bouts of lonliness.... lol but going for walks usually help too.

loneliness abroad is especially true if the locals are not outgoing and don't give a damn about you and other expats are unreachable. welcome to my world.

Lonliness gets the best of me most of the day. I miss my home, my friends, my family, and the sun!!

I try to go outside when it isn't raining here in Holland, but I am still trying to find sports and yoga here I can get into like I would back home. So hard!

BethAnne wrote:

Lonliness gets the best of me most of the day. I miss my home, my friends, my family, and the sun!!

I try to go outside when it isn't raining here in Holland, but I am still trying to find sports and yoga here I can get into like I would back home. So hard!

It take some time but at the end you will find your way.
The Netherlands is an nice country, trust me

yeah its really a serious issue especially when u are away from home and u have no one to talk to or express ur worries and happiness its really stressful and all that can be changed when u meet the right person abroad who can lend u a hearing ears for sure.