When you start feeling nervous and you do not know how to act in the new environment, it is a sign that cultural shock might be on the horizon. You do well to manage this sense of surprise that shakes up your system and then as you celebrate getting back home, a similar feeling strikes you once again! This is reverse culture shock, leading to your own culture confusing the living daylight out of you. It only happens for a very short time and you fit in again. Don’t raise any alarm bells, it’s very normal as you try to adapt and find your place again in your home environment but just in case you need some insights and step-by-step of dealing with these confusing feelings after a trip abroad, I came up with some tips below, read on…
So, who feels reverse culture shock and how to deal with it?
Teenagers have the fountain of youth and a lot going for them, but unfortunately, they are also the most likely to be affected by sudden changes such as the switch in ways of life. This is because when you are young, you tend to adapt to the new ways quickly and forget your old routines just as quickly. It’s almost like a punishment for your adaptability, but more realistically, it is because your system is not used to rapid changes and has not fostered in-built shock absorbers as the adults have.
As a teen, you usually live in the moment, YOLO! When you are taken out of your daily routines and then brought back in again, you are likely to face confusion as you try to remember your old routines. Time on the other hand, waits for no man and so it takes some getting used to in order to find your place again because very little is the same as when you left it. The most exciting way to deal with reverse culture shock is to share your experiences with your friends and family, and not in a complaining kind of way – pure dialogue or going through photos or your travel journal.
Flexible people are also less susceptible to reverse culture shock because they easily adapt and fit in again in their old lifestyle without any problems. The thing that’s great about you is living in the moment, and so don’t overthink things and try not to compare where you are coming from, with your home environment as this leads to nostalgia, which your system is not yet ready to process just yet. Usually mature and older people are less susceptible to reverse culture shock because they have been exposed to such situations a few times before, more than the first-time traveller. Their routines are most likely cast in stone, like going to work and so they typically hit the ground running, although in my experience, even I need a holiday after a holiday!
How long does a person need to be abroad to then experience reverse culture shock?
There is no exact science here, however, having been in the student and youth industry for over a decade, there is an apparent pattern that has emerged. In the 10 years that I have directly and indirectly dealt with more than three thousand interns, volunteers and study abroad students, more often than not, those who spend up to a month abroad, tend to experience more of a shock once they return home. The reason we get from the students is simple, they acclimatise to the host country and adopt that way of life after about three weeks and the longer they stay, the more they are immersed in that way of life, which makes their home country environment feel a little alien within the first few days of them returning.
Let me be clear though that I am not advocating for a 2-week stay in order to avoid reverse culture shock as that could happen as well when you return home after 2-weeks abroad and you begin to notice differences in the way of doing things. Reverse culture shock in this instance is synonymous with feelings of nostalgia. These are in fact good feelings to have towards a place you have visited, it is the best sign that it was all so worth it and that you had a good time. Who would really want to travel to a place that they will not have fond memories of and where they did not have experiences that make them want to come back again and again?
Does reverse culture shock happen every time someone travels abroad?
The most interesting news is that reverse culture shock does not take place each time you travel, so you do not need to worry. If you travel for a short time and are not as immersed in the local culture as you otherwise would be if you stayed in one place for over 4-weeks, you will have minimal to no reverse culture shock. Let’s face it, some people, though open-minded and flexible, just might not adapt to a new lifestyle, new dishes, languages and environments, which means they will not be prone to reverse culture shock. It also doesn’t mean that they did not have a good time, it just means that they process new experiences differently. Neutrality or reverse culture shock, none of these should affect the way you travel. At Tiritose Sustainable Travel, our motto is always ‘live in the moment’ and enjoy your travel experiences, ‘hakuna matata’.
What can people who are around someone experiencing reverse culture shock do or not do to help?
The best thing friends and family can do when someone returns home after a trip abroad is listen to the travel stories, even when they become annoying. Just learn those new phrases they want to teach you, don’t pay too much heed to being compared to their host mum, dad or siblings. Allow them to make the new dishes they learnt while abroad and watch the video clips and photos they took, even if you have seen half of them on Facebook and Instagram already. You have to be very friendly, understanding and patient. Reverse culture shock worsens when one is surrounded by folks who make them feel unwelcome, who are unwilling to hear their experiences, which ultimately makes them feel out of place.
Your friends can also take you out to favourite restaurants or spots and remind you of your old lifestyle. Friends and family should not put any pressure on you and force you to remember your old routines. Instead, they should actually learn new ways of doing things from you. If you travelled as part of a group, even as strangers at first, it’s important to start a Facebook or WhatsApp chat group so that you can reminisce with people who share similar experiences and are most likely going through the same things as you. I, for one, belong to several Facebook groups that go back to 2011 and every now and then, someone will either post a photo or joke from our time together, which brings back all of the good times we had.
How does Tiritose help students and volunteers prepare to return home?
The most exciting news is we help interns, volunteers and study abroad students minimise the effects of reverse culture shock. Our Friday culture nights are meant to exchange cultural ideas and ways of doing things. So, while we have Chef Kundi teaching you how to make and eat local dishes, we have nights where you teach us your way of doing things back home, including your favourite activities and games. Through this exchange, we all learn new things, and importantly, it keeps your own way of life top of mind, meaning you don’t push it to the back of your mind while you are on any of our programmes. Further, you get to learn how to tell stories in a way that will not bore your friends and family once you return home.
Once you do return home, we have a whole module dedicated to helping you overcome reverse culture shock. Your placement advisor contacts each alumni at once in the first month after they leave and then again three months after departure and lastly, a year after, just to check in and offer to reminisce on the past experience. We then have a voluntary alumni programme, where we can connect programme participants with past students from the same area or with similar profiles so that they can share how they dealt with such feelings upon returning home.
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