“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

I love flying. One of my absolute favorite feelings is definitely when the plane takes off and you can feel the tires not touching the ground anymore or the feeling you get when you land and you feel that the tires finally touch the ground. 

In addition to flying, I also love airports. I am actually quite often known as the person who is always late, but when traveling I often make sure to be at the airport long enough to enjoy the atmosphere there - I think quite many of us can agree that it indeed is something very special about it there! The place is full of people leaving, arriving, being sad, being nervous, being excited, being relieved, saying goodbyes, saying hellos, traveling alone, traveling together - so many situations, so many people.

This all probably makes it quite crystal clear that traveling is something that I love, and something that is clearly a big passion of mine. I have been very lucky enough to have had many opportunities to travel, but there are so many places still that have not seen!

To tell the truth, when I was an au pair in the USA, I did not travel as much as I probably was supposed to, or so much I could have. I had one of the best year's of my life, there is no doubt about that. That is why I would like to encourage all of you au pairs, please, do not make the same mistake as I did - make sure that you travel and experience as much as you can. By this I do not mean that you have to keep booking new out-of-state trips every weekend, but also do not be afraid to hop in your car, and experience what you have close by! Living in the USA as an au pair is a unique experience, make sure to take the most of it!

Happy traveling!
-Mari

Getting over homesickness!

No one goes into the au pair program thinking they will be homesick. I can probably say that the majority of our candidates listen to our preparation workshops thinking that it does not pertain to them at all. The fact is however that we see almost 9 out of 10 au pairs getting homesick. It is something that happens to almost everyone, but of course to varying degrees.

 As we say in a lot of our courses, homesickness can be anything from just a slight longing to full-blown sadness. It can be triggered from anything from spending Christmas eve away from your family to clicking through Facebook pictures of what your friends are doing back home. The most important thing to remember, however severe your homesickness is, is that it is okay. You are allowed to feel homesickness, to feel sad, and, most importantly, to ask for help.

We at Cultural Care Au Pair have over 26 years of experience dealing with this. We have a lot of advice, tips, and tricks to get through those tough times. The majority of us have even been au pairs ourselves and those tips come directly from our own personal experience. Your host family also understands where you are coming from, that you are in a new country, and that you are leaving things behind. Your new au pair friends will also be in the same boat as you and might just be too afraid to be the one to bring it up.

 I personally believe that one of the best ways to get through homesickness is having the right expectations and attitude. Believing in yourself is something that will get you far and will be useful no matter which path you take in life. I do understand that it is easier said than done, but going into your au pair time with the expectation that you WILL have tough times and the attitude that you WILL get through it is the first step to a successful experience.