Reverse Culture Shock Hits Harder than Culture Shock
Everyone has heard of cultural shock before, whether they’ve travelled or not.
… feelings of uncertainty, confusion, or anxiety that people experience when they are transplanted into a society that’s different from their own. Culture shock sets in when people vacation, do business, go to school, or move to another city or country. The syndrome arises from an individual’s unfamiliarity with local customs, language, and acceptable behavior.
The conversation is often geared towards the experience of “going”.
What flies under the radar, however, is the experience of “leaving” and subsequently returning – reverse culture shock: “the emotional and psychological distress suffered by some people when they return home after a number of years overseas … the unexpected difficulty in readjusting to the culture and values of the home country, now that the previously familiar has become unfamiliar.”
I would argue that reverse culture shock hits harder than culture shock. I wouldn’t consider myself an “experienced traveller”, but I’ve had the opportunity to live in a few different places outside of my hometown and country.
“Going” was tough, no doubt about it – I went through all of the emotions as outlined in the definition of culture shock. But it doesn’t last forever. In fact, depending on how fast you’re willing to hit the ground running in your new home, it can fade quite quick.
Establishing a new life somewhere else is scary and exciting at the same time. So much uncertainty, yet so many possibilities lie ahead at the same time.
Travel, especially long-term travel for reasons outside of pure vacation, can lead to immense personal development.
It’s not all about what you learn externally – being from living in a new place – but what you also learn internally, about yourself and your culture: what makes you who you are.
That’s the toughest part in returning “home” from a prolonged stay abroad. You’re back in an environment that you’ve known your whole life, yet nothing feels the same – it’s almost become unfamiliar.
After a two-year stay abroad (though I returned for visits every few months), when I was finally back living “officially” at home, this became clear to me almost immediately.
Familiar faces, conversations on topics that have been rehashed time and time again – yet I don’t resonate with any of it anymore.
And it’s not them – it’s me.
I’m the one who’s not the same as when I left. I experienced new things, met new people, saw a different way of life, experienced a different reality – and when people back “home” haven’t experienced any of that, you can clearly see the divide.
I spent a lot of time blaming them for how I felt, or rather, failing to understand how I felt.
But how can you blame someone for not understanding your experience if they’ve never been through it personally?
So what do you do?
What I did was reach out to the [few] people that I knew who also lived in my hometown who had also experienced something similar.
It was refreshing – being able to communicate with someone who understands your experience, who has gone through it personally, and who you could lean on when emotions ran a little high.
But even then you have to find a way to move on – I looked to form good habits (diet and exercise proved crucial) and connect with people overseas (particularly in destinations where I wished to be one day) in order to keep the travel bug buzzing and lift my spirits.
It’s a perfectly normal thing to go through, despite how rough it is. Just know you’re not alone in it – a lot of people have gone through it and will go through it in the future.
Stay strong and keep moving forward.
