Don’t Lose Your Study Abroad Mentality When You Come Home

Originally published on Life After Study Abroad

Remember when you traveled somewhere new every weekend? Or when you would walk up to complete strangers and start random conversations? Or when you ate crazy food and were totally okay with it?

No, you hadn’t found the secret to an instant confidence boost; you were studying abroad.

Despite the wonderment in these bolder days, you’ve probably noticed how this magical feeling seemed to disappear as soon as you stepped off the plane and returned to your hometown. As a whole, when we return home from our time away, we tend to fall back into our old ways. Once again we frequent our favorite hangout spots, see the same friends, and get sucked back into our old work and sleep routines.

If you are coming home after living abroad, I challenge you to continue your “abroad lifestyle and mindset” in your hometown. From my personal experience, this takes effort and being proactive, but makes all the difference. Here’s what worked for me when I returned to Seattle after living abroad in France:

• Attend a Meetup
• Don’t fear rejection
• Set goals

Read my original article on Life After Study Abroad for all my advice for living abroad while back at home.

How do you cope with coming home after traveling?