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Activists in Seattle mocking Black Friday sales. Photo: John Henderson / Flickr
Have you ever returned home, only to feel like home was more foreign than any of the exotic locales you’ve visited? You’re not alone. Reverse culture shock has a way of ambushing people, despite how much you may have heard about it. When we travel, we have our awareness up. We know we must learn and adapt. But home? We let our guard down. We don’t have to think too hard, because we’re back on familiar ground. Or so we think.
CNNGO published the Ultimate checklist for returning U.S. expats. The article covers a wide range of topics, ranging from practical matters like money to more social niceties like pop culture. The writer is mostly tongue-in-cheek in tone, particularly the section on what’s hot and what’s not these days.
More sobering is the final section on reverse culture shock. Every one of the points resonated with me. Here’s one excerpt:
Nobody cares where you’ve been
People outside the U.S. often like to hear what life is like there. Americans, owing to either a sense of superiority or disinterest, aren’t all that curious about what’s going on in Mamalikibooboostan.
This is why our Rolf Potts in Vagabonding emphasized that travel should be a personal decision, not to prove something to others. No one will care as much about your travels as you do.
I returned to the United States after five years of working and traveling in Asia. Like many, I was blindsided by the process of re-adapting. Here are some ways I’ve dealt with culture shock:
1) Use Skype. I still regularly chat with some of the close friends I’ve made while on the road. Talking to people with the same shared experiences has been a huge morale boost.
2) Make new friends. I’ve been active on Meetup.com, joining groups that match my interests.
3) Attend travel meetups. Events like Meet Plan Go and Couchsurfing meetups are great ways to meet travelers where you live.
Did you experience reverse culture shock when you returned home? Where had you been living and traveling before then? What did you do to cope? Please share your stories in the comments.
February 24th, 2012 at 9:10 am
The first time I came home from living in Korea, in 1997, I was really thrown by the reverse culture shock: Everything seemed less vivid back home in the American Midwest (it didn’t help that it was winter, and freezing), and nobody seemed the least bit interested in where I’d been and what I’d been doing. None of the resources Marcus mentions were available back then, so I think I did a lot of reading around then, a lot of dreaming for what eventually became my big Asian vagabonding trip of 1999-2003. And then I went back to Korea for another year.
I think just being aware that the transition will be weird helps. Once you realize that you people back home will be able to fully understand how you’ve been living overseas it’s easier to keep things in perspective.
February 24th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Wow I am glad I read this article now. I never really thought of this. I will be returning home in about six months and only remember all the things I left. Not even considering that life did go on in my absence. I will have to consider this blog when I get home so as I do not lose myself. With that said I hope that I can keep some parts of myself that I gained living in a third world country. The need to not over indulge and uselessly spend money, is one that I hope to carry with me. Thanks for you post and for the heads up.
February 28th, 2012 at 1:46 am
I definitely had reverse culture shock when I came back from 8 months abroad in Europe. I was at a festival in my hometown with a lot of people my age and I felt I just didn’t fit in with the Californian twenty-somethings. It took me a long time to adjust but I took advantage of travel meet-ups for sure. Even if it was just once a month, it was nice to meet up with people who love to travel and talk travel because when you get back into the daily routine of life at home, you are not going to have those like-minded people around all the time.