Full immunity to homesickness — or to its cousin experience of reminiscing about past situations — is practically impossible to obtain. However, you can take steps to lower your sensitivity against the elements that might trigger homesickness. According to researcher Chirs Thurber, the experience of homesickness itself is "the very thing that inoculates against a future bout of homesickness," as he told CNN. Given small, repeated exposure to things that trigger homesickness and practice identifying the symptoms, you'll be better able to identify the specific emotions you're experiencing at any given moment so that you can logically name them for what they may be. For instance, you might find yourself mourning a familiar setting or cultural tradition, thus finding your sensations of homesickness activated when you come across a memento or reminder of your previous familiar experience.

But being better able to recognize what triggers your homesickness is only the first step to working through it. Next, you'll want to set appropriate boundaries around those experiences — enough so you can process those feelings but can focus more on integrating into your new environment and building a local support network. This step requires placing self-imposed limitations on how frequently you keep your previous environment in your purview, from calling friends from back home on a less regular basis to hiding reminders of your past home in your new residence. These changes should be conducted with the intent of challenging yourself to become immersed in your new surroundings.