For many young people, going to university gives them their first taste of freedom and life away from home. While this new life is busy and full of wonderful things to discover, it’s still important to maintain your old one and stay in contact with family and friends while you’re away.

But just how can you achieve this – and on top of everything else you’re sure to have to do at university? Keep reading for some tips on how to stay connected with home.

Why is visiting home important?

Many new students mistakenly think that it’s a bad idea to go home during term time. And it’s easy to see why. FOMO is real and can make going home seem like a bad use of time.

Yet, as strange as it sounds, it may well be better for your studies if you spend some time at home.

Thanks to the pandemic, dropout rates are higher than ever in 2022. Yet, keeping good contact with your loved ones can help you deal with the many stresses that come with being at uni. This isn’t just a sentimental thought. Research shows that close friendships act as a buffer against stress, helping you to ward it off before it even starts.

How to stay in regular contact with home?

If there’s one thing that you’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that contacting people virtually is by far the easiest way to stay connected. Set up group chats to stay involved en masse or use social media, WhatsApp or FaceTime to speak to loved ones face-to-face over the phone.

How to make it easier to visit home

When the time does come for you to visit home, you don’t want to be worried about what’s happening at your accommodation. You need to know that your belongings are safe and will still be there when you return. Luckily, there are some ways to work around this problem.

The easiest ways are to ask a trusted friend to watch over your stuff or take out insurance. However, if you really want to ensure that your stuff is where it should be when you get back, you could also hire storage. For example, there are self-storage units in Liverpool that will give you the peace of mind to really enjoy your trip home.

How to travel home

Unless you have a car with you at university, taking the train is going to be the simplest way for you to travel home. If you’re going to make a train journey fairly regularly, it’s worth investing in a railcard so that you can save 1/3 off your train fares and see your friends and family for less.

What do you find hardest about staying connected with home at university? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!