Traveling to a new country by yourself can already be overwhelming on its own – adapting to a new environment, constantly being put outside of your comfort zone, and overall, having to experience everything on your own. On top of all of it, making an effort to stay in contact with family and friends in different time zones at home adds to the stress of living abroad. At the time of writing this article, I’ve officially been in Korea for a month now. With my closest family and friends back home in California, I was now living a 13-hour flight and a 16-hour time difference ahead from the lives my family and friends were living.
My first weekend in Korea, I only conversed with my family through our family group chat, sending updates of what I’ve been up to through photos and messages every few hours. My family rarely responded because of the time difference – they were sleeping when I was awake, and I was sleeping when they woke up. It didn’t help that my parents sleep early and wake up early before going to work. By the time they got to work, I had just woken up. I started FaceTiming my family and friends around the end of week one, once I had started to adapt to the new environment I was in. I’d call my mom in the morning while getting ready for 30 minutes and my family was having dinner and then I’d leave for work. When I got home, right before bed, around midnight to 1am, I’d get another call for no more than 10-15 minutes after my parents had just woken up, sometimes my mom would still be in bed. In terms of friendships back home, it has been pretty difficult to maintain relationships and update my friends while also trying to build new friendships in Korea.
To those who plan on coming to Korea whether it is for work, school, or leisurely travel, maintaining and communicating with loved ones back home may not be on the top of your planning list. I know it definitely wasn’t very high on mine. My advice is to take your time. It’s completely fine if you don’t adjust to the new environment of Korea right away! You’re in a completely new country! Try your best to stay in contact with your family or your support system. It can feel extremely isolating and lonely to be sending texts and getting no response right away but it’s better than cutting everyone off completely! Make a schedule or a plan to call or FaceTime loved ones at a certain time of day depending on your schedules. That way, you have a general idea of when to expect responses to texts and phone calls.
Traveling abroad is very exciting and a lot of fun but it’s even more enjoyable when you have people to share the experience with. Put in the effort to update the people you care about on your trip; it’ll make your overall experience a lot more enjoyable and way less lonely!
