We were talking with another British couple last night about homesickness.

Homesickness is something we’ve never really felt. We both feel it would be nice if we could see our relations in the UK more often, but it’s not something that’s tearing strongly at our emotions.

But last night we met – I’ll call her Jenny. Jenny and her husband have been in Brisbane for about a year now and Jenny still finds herself crying almost daily with the pain from homesickness.

It’s not as if she doesn’t like Brisbane. She says it’s a far, far better place to live than Manchester, where they emigrated from. Yet her close family isn’t here. Other familiar people and smells and scenes aren’t here. The effect seems to be tearing the poor woman apart.

If you haven’t been away from Britain for an extended period before, homesickness is something you should watch out for. It could wreck your whole emigration and, if it strikes you, I don’t think there’s much you can do about it.

I’m certain Jenny and her husband will be back in Manchester within 12 months. They’ll have a lower quality of life in many ways but it’ll be worth it to Jenny because she’ll have all those familiar things again that she can’t have in Brisbane.