The first time I traveled abroad by myself I ended up coming home early, which was a shame since I’d planned that trip for over a year. Just before my withdrawal from the trip, I met a guy who tried to talk me into continuing. He warned me that I was glamorizing life back home, and that when I returned, I’d find every one doing exactly the same thing they were doing when I left. I knew he was right, even at the time, but that is what I wanted right then. I missed the familiar.

Since then I’ve traveled abroad for as long as six months at a time, and while I do get homesick on occasion, I’ve come up with a few things to alleviate my loneliness while traveling and keep me connected to the familiar.

I always travel with a phone full of downloaded music. There are many times when I’m traveling on a bus for hours, and music helps to pass the time. Often, I find myself listening to the music of my childhood. It takes me back to happy periods with my family and friends. It’s easy to get lost in those memories, and it creates a connection to something familiar, even as I’m passing by a fishing village on a remote island on the other side of the world.

Netflix has been another great tool. If I end up in a hotel by myself with not much to do at night, I can always curl up with a favorite show. Just hearing the theme song for a show transports me back to the couch where I watched the show at home and for the next 30 minutes, my spirit is home. A caveat about Netflix: the shows they offer can vary by country. Sometimes they may not have the latest season; sometimes they don’t offer that show at all; and most interestingly, they offer shows that are only available in that country. If you do want the US experience however, you can download a VPN app like ExpressVPN, which tricks Netflix into thinking you are watching it from the US.

Then there is Facebook. Keeping in constant touch with the people I really care about, having them like and comment on my pictures gives me the feeling of sharing at least a part of my trip with them. Sometimes it can backfire however. I remember being in Mexico once and seeing postings of friends snowshoeing. I hadn’t been missing that until I saw it!

Perhaps the best way to avoid being lonely, however, is to stay in hostels. It ensures that every day you come home to a house filled with people. The common language in most hostels in English, and it can be a relief after struggling through a day of communicating in a foreign language.

It’s easy to meet new people. If you’re shy, the following may seem like a big leap, but I have always been quickly included when I’ve sat down at a table with a group of chatty people. Try to remember that all these people are traveling alone too!

The best part of staying in a hostel is all the ideas you get from other people. Without question, the best things I’ve seen in the world came from word of mouth of people I’ve met in hostels. Plus, they can tell you exactly how to do it. Someone is always coming from where you are going next, and I’ve gotten much more accurate and up to date information from fellow travelers than I can ever find on the internet. There have also been numerous times that I met people at the hostel who I’ve traveled with for a day to several weeks. And unlike back home, you are surrounded by people with a willingness to drop everything and try an adventure.

I still use the above methods to avoid loneliness, but I find I am less dependent on them and have built a worldwide network of friends that I run into again and again in different countries and on different continents. In fact, just the other day one of those friends asked me what place felt the most familiar now, and I answered, “the road”.