Most peoplespend the holidays with family, friends, and loved ones.
Here are a few ways to cope.
Being away from the people who make you feel like everything is okay only makes things worse.
Starting new holiday traditions can help you shift this mindset.
Volunteering is a great holiday tradition.
When youdont know what else to do, sometimes the best thing to do is help others.
Beyond that, you coulddeliver meals,help the homeless, orvisit a nursing home.
You spend time with other people, feel purposeful, and distract yourself from feeling nostalgic.
Andvolunteering actually makes you happy.
Instead, say yes.
Get out in your community and head to holiday markets or local New Years celebrations.
On the other hand, those activities might make you miss home even more.
Its all about how you approach it.
You canmeet people online, too,who might be coping with their own holiday homesickness.
For example, you might browseMeetup.comfor parties and eventsaround the holidays.
Indulge Yourself
I felt so homesick when I traveled abroad alone in my 20s.
It was Thanksgiving, I was in Greece, and there was hardly anyone around.
I felt incredibly fortunate to be traveling, but I also missed my family.
To cope, I decided to treat myself.
I went to a nice restaurant, ordered a bunch of delicious food and sat there, alone.
Its hard to feel too sad when youre eating delicious food in a beautiful place.
Your own indulgence might be a picnic or a hike or just a simple bubble bath.
The idea is to do something you wouldnt normally do toremind yourself that life has its perks.
Set up a time for a video visit via Skype or Google Hangouts.
Hit them up via Facebook Live or Instagram Live while youre at the beach or hanging out with friends.
By living through a difficult separation, your mind forces itself to cope.
Again, it goes back to experience.
The more you experiencebeing away from home,the better youll get at coping with year after year.
Illustration by Sam Woolley.
