Overcoming culture shock can be hard. And it’s not something you only do once.
Leaving the airport and entering the subway station in Hong Kong after 20 hours of travelling and very little sleep, the familiar and unpleasant feeling hit me like a brick wall.
I’m overwhelmingly overwhelmed.
The noises, the smells, the crowds, the illegible station names on the complicated subway map. This is my 5th Asian country and I previously lived in Vietnam. But it would seem that overcoming culture shock isn’t like learning to ride a bike.
Once I’d made it to my hotel, freshened up and sourced some coffee, I started to feel a little calmer again. But it got me thinking. If I felt this way despite years of solo travelling, it must be pretty daunting for a first time traveller to venture somewhere totally outside their comfort zone.
So whether you’re headed for your first trip or your fiftieth, these are my tips for overcoming culture shock. Or at least minimising culture shock, when you arrive in a foreign place.
1. Eat from a chain restaurant
Ok, I know I may get some eye rolls for this one. But, as much as I love exploring the local culture, sometimes you need to allow yourself a home comfort.
You’ll be surprised at how far reaching chains like McDonalds, Subway or Starbucks are. It’s not a crime to order a flat-white just because the locals drink espresso shots with condensed milk. (What’s that about Vietnam?!).
Particularly if you have dietary needs. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to eat a meal and know exactly what’s in it and how it’s going to taste.
Once the impending hangry mode is avoided, exploring local markets and sampling exciting and exotic cuisine becomes a lot more fun.
2. Walk without a plan
I’m sure you have a long list of places you want to see and things you want to do. However, factor in some time for exploring aimlessly too.
My favourite thing to do on day one is to just pick a direction and start walking. It really helps with overcoming culture shock when you initially arrive in a foreign place. It’s a lot harder to be stressed that you didn’t achieve it all, if you didn’t have a list to start with!
Of course, there are the must-sees. But there are so many hidden gems that will help you fall in love with wherever you are. And sometimes those are the most memorable moments in the end.
When it comes to actually hitting the hot spots, you’ll already be more comfortable navigating the streets, crossing roads and reading the map, so it will be way less daunting.
3. Go Shopping
If you’re in a big city, you’re likely to come across some brands that exist in your hometown.
It’s slightly surreal to walk into H&M in Italy, Hong Kong and Frankfurt and each looking exactly like your local store on the inside.
I’m certainly not suggesting you spend your whole trip in shopping malls. But if you’ve had an intense morning or home feels a million miles away, an hour of retail therapy is a comforting reminder of how small the world really is.
4. Make time to get lost
There’s nothing worse than adding to the stress of culture shock and trying to master a new place than doing it with a deadline.
If you need to be somewhere at a specific time, aim to be there an hour early. This gives you time to catch the subway in the wrong direction, or for Google Maps to spontaneously crash when you lose wifi.
The worst case scenario is that you arrive early and grab a drink or explore that area before your event begins.
5. Learn the currency
I can’t count the number of times (pun intended) I’ve panicked while buying something and handed over a way too large a bill.
The result, with each day that passes, the coins start to get pretty bulky. And some small business owners won’t be best pleased either. Take a moment to learn what the notes mean and it will pay off in the long run (too many puns?).
Build your confidence and put the culture shock at bay by coming up with a currency conversion shortcut that’s easy to remember.
For Example: You can’t be expected to divide 43CNY by 8.53 in your head. But considering that Chinese currency is basically “1/10 + a bit” tells you the noodle dish in your hotel is about £4- £5.
6. Learn some of the language (or get a translator)
Naturally, understanding some key phrases will help you feel more comfortable in a foreign place.
I’m not suggesting you learn mandarin for a 10 day trip to China. But picking up some key words will go a long way to helping you feel less like you’ve landed on another planet.
If you can nail the numbers 1-10 you’re really onto a winner. Particularly for countries that don’t use the Latin alphabet, learning some important symbols (toilet, tickets, entrance, exit..) make life a lot less overwhelming.
Even if you don’t learn them, screenshot some key translations before you start your trip and just show them to people. “I am a vegetarian” was a particularly useful one for me.
(Top tip: WayGo allows you to translate Chinese, Korean and Japanese from a picture. This is a godsend for menu reading, and it works offline!)
7. Be open minded
Last but not least, as cliché’d as it sounds, being open minded is the best way to quickly overcoming culture shock.
If you wanted everything to be exactly like home, why are you travelling in the first place?
Being out of your comfort zone is a scary feeling. But it’s also so empowering once you conquer it and realise how much of the world there is to see.
Embrace the challenges and emotions that travel will throw at you. Take a deep breath, make the best of your current situation, and accept the realities that you cannot change.
Follow these steps and I guarantee you’ll have a far more enriching experience than running back to your hotel room, curling into the fetal position and streaming Netflix from your bed until it’s time to fly home.
(Spoiler alert: without a VPN Netflix wont always work outside your home country anyway).
