Portugal has been a top destination for Britons moving abroad for several reasons. The main reasons are its proximity to the UK, its hot climate, its glorious food, wine and way of life. Moving abroad, no matter how close to home it is, is a daunting and scary experience. It will no doubt be exciting, but at the same time you will experience a mixture of emotions, from happiness, to doubt and dread, to feeling homesick. Luckily there are plenty of ways to try and combat the negative feelings.

Luckily, Portugal is really close to the UK, and there are plenty of cheap flights going all the time; making popping home for a day or weekend really easy. This is not to say that you should fly home every time you miss your friends and family. Plan a trip in advance and this will give you something to look forward to. It will also take your mind of feeling homesick as you will be consciously aware that you will be back soon.

Once you have arrived in Portugal you should start to learn the language, if you have not done so already. Not knowing Portuguese is going to be a likely cause of feeling isolated or out of place, and the local people will feel more obliged to help you if they can see that you are making an effort to speak their language and fit in. the more you learn the more you will feel a part of the local community too, and when you are a part of the community you will make friends easily. It is important to try to meet new people and be sociable so that you are not relying on seeing your UK friends so much.

Taking photos and memories with you is a great way to alleviate any homesickness. Place them around your new home so that you are able to ‘greet’ your friends and family every day, it may also help you not to think about missing them so much if you see their faces every day. Another thing you could try is to have a routine which is hard to break, for example if you know that you get really homesick, fill your days with activities and dates which you would find hard to break, such as volunteering or having lunch with neighbours. By keeping active and having a busy mind, there will be less time and space for you to feel homesick.