Dealing with Culture Shock? How ?

Do more Research 

Learn as much as you can about the new location before you go. This refers to the positive and negative sides of being in the region or country. From which sides people drive on to local cuisine and culture, sometimes even local religion, it is always good to understand more before stepping into a country. If possible, learn a few phrases of local greetings or daily conversations.

Willing to Learn

Be open-minded and willing to learning. Ask questions. If you are going to a place which has a different language or slang, consider taking a few courses in that language. One of the best way to combat cultural shock is actually to blend in the local scene. Mastering a few local “trick of the trades” will be helpful all the time.

Build new positive friendships

Even if you’ve done really good research, having someone who can help you in avoid culture shock and even coping up with the local pace. Surviving another culture is favourably easier when you have a person to guide you through the new little everyday experiences when you are travelling abroad.

Have an Adventurous Spirit

Eleanor Roosevelt once said “do something that takes courage every day,” . This is especially important for travelers when it comes to Survival 101 in a different culture. The only way to survive out of the monotonous comfort zone is to actually treat every day as an adventure ..

Stay in Touch with Family and Friends

Perhaps one of the most important element of all. This can give you some comfort while away, and it will help you to minimize reverse culture shock when you get back home. Spending some time conversing with family and friends back home will ease the anxiety of adapting to a new culture.

5 Reasons to Travel Solo Abroad

Confidence build up

The biggest obstacle whereby teenage travelers are reluctant to travel alone is the Confidence Issue. Confidence does not build up overnight obviously and takes time to nurture and grow. There is a saying, “ The more challenges you have, the bigger your world becomes”. Confidence can be built up by learning travelling skills and techniques such as learning a new language, learn navigating skills etc. When one can survive his or her own abroad while travelling, they definitely are confident in having a set of surviving skills or technique.

Experience, Experience and MORE EXPERIENCE.

Staying at home does not give you any new experience at all. Being too long in comfort zones may actually build up anxiety and panic when one’s get out in the real world. When we embark on new travels alone, we are “forced” in a way or another to gain more and more experience. Most importantly, we not only experience the new environment and new community during solo trips, but we also get to experience the ultimate feeling of being yourself solidary. Focus on the experience while travelling alone, you will always find yourself more engaged and attentive to the place you’re in.

f.R.I.E.N.D.S

Travelling alone does not mean that you wont have friends. In a lot of cases, travelling alone gives you more opportunities to make new friends. When you’re travelling alone, you simply can’t sit back and wait for a conversation to happen. You will need to find and get involved in the interactions and discussion with local community. Sometimes, it may be uncomfortable to make new friends, but always REMEMBER, be open to new conversations and be prepared to engage in local topics. A friendly smile will start it all.^^

FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY
Solo travelers have great capacity to exercise their freedom and flexibility. When you are not stick to specific schedule or need to be answerable to any group members, you can simply alternate visits or trips accordingly to your interest. Having freedom and flexibility may be the BIGGEST PERK of travelling solo as you can actually craft your own trip creatively and make the best use of it to your own interest and personality.

LESS DISTRACTIONS, MORE SIGHTSEEINGS

Travelling abroad with groups is always a game of compromise. Discussions need to be held again and again until sometimes till a point, it may seem planning a group trip is more tiring than the actual travel. By travelling alone, one can have obviously less distractions, and spend more time indulging the amazing activities you yourself plan. When one does not need to answer to questions and criticism, one can always enjoy a trip accordingly to one's interest.