Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
Settling in Senegal, whether in Dakar, Saint-Louis, Saly, or Casamance, is both exhilarating and disorienting. Between the heat, the sea, the ever-present music, and the famous teranga – that Senegalese hospitality which welcomes the stranger like a family member – many quickly fall under its spell. Yet, even in a warm country, homesickness can creep in, sometimes abruptly.
20-90
Between 20% and 90% of expats experience homesickness during their first year abroad.
Understanding Homesickness to Better Tame It
Homesickness isn’t just “nostalgia for one’s house.” Psychologists describe it as emotional distress linked to separation from one’s familiar environment: loved ones, routines, cultural landmarks, language, even the daily smells and noises.
Researchers speak of two main mechanisms: the separation reaction (everything related to missing what was left behind) and the adaptation reaction (the effort to tame a new environment). In Senegal, these two dimensions are often amplified by culture shock: language, religion, social codes, pace of life, everything changes at once.
Good to know:
Homesickness symptoms manifest on several levels: emotional (sadness, irritability, anxiety, loneliness, decreased motivation), physical (sleep disorders, persistent fatigue, stomach or headaches, appetite changes) and behavioral (withdrawal, avoiding outings, difficulty concentrating). In more severe cases, it can intertwine with depression or an anxiety disorder.
The good news: for most people, these feelings diminish after a few weeks to a few months. Most often, between one and six weeks after arrival, the emotional peak subsides as landmarks are established. The goal, therefore, is not to “eliminate” homesickness, but to manage it intelligently so it doesn’t spiral into discouragement.
Senegal: A New World to Tame
Arriving in Senegal means confronting a reality that can be unsettling, even if you’ve lived abroad before. Dakar, the bustling capital, combines residential neighborhoods, popular markets, traffic jams, Atlantic views, large shopping malls and sometimes uneven infrastructure.
For a newcomer, the language barrier can be one of the first walls. French is the official language, but Wolof is by far the most spoken language in daily life. English remains a minority language outside very international circles. On the street, at the market, with artisans or drivers, not mastering French or Wolof quickly gives the impression of being on the margins.
Heads up:
Adaptation to a new environment, characterized by a humid climate, a slow pace of life, chaotic traffic, fragile infrastructure, and stark social contrasts, can exacerbate homesickness, especially when it coincides with distance from loved ones.
Yet, this is the same country nicknamed “the land of teranga.” The human warmth, the conviviality around a bowl of thieboudienne or an attaya tea, the importance of family and community, religious tolerance, and vibrant cultural life are all levers to transform nostalgia into attachment.
Creating a “Home” in Senegal: The Foundation Against Homesickness
One of the most effective ways to reduce homesickness is to create a familiar environment in this new setting. The more “settled” you feel, the less your brain stays stuck in the feeling of loss.
Regarding housing, taking the time to arrange your space radically changes the game. Many expats explain they only felt “truly at home” in Dakar after receiving their personal effects by container or suitcase: photos, books, rugs, dishes, linens. Even without a container, a few symbolic objects (photos of loved ones, a favorite blanket, a favorite mug, a musical instrument, some spices from home) can be enough to make an impersonal studio feel warmer.
Example:
In Dakar, some expats deliberately choose neighborhoods that allow them to walk to work and easily access familiar services and shops, like the Sea Plaza mall, the Pathé Dakar cinema, or the Auchan supermarket. This proximity reduces daily fatigue and strengthens their sense of control over their new environment.
Routine, next, provides a lot of stability. Establishing simple habits – a morning walk on the Corniche, coffee at the same kiosk, shopping on the same day, blocking one Netflix series night a week – offers a reassuring temporal framework. The more predictable the schedule, the less intense the feeling of disorientation.
Tip:
An often overlooked but crucial element is food. In Senegal, to ease homesickness, it can be comforting to occasionally have access to food products from your home country (like specific cheeses, sauces, cereals, or biscuits). Solutions exist: some grocery stores and supermarkets in Dakar offer imported products, and it’s also possible to use delivery services for fruit and vegetable baskets or specific products. The goal isn’t to isolate yourself, but to find a balance between discovering Senegalese culinary riches and the comfort of familiar flavors.
Example of a Settlement Strategy
The main settlement areas that most help combat homesickness can be summarized as follows:
| Area | Concrete Actions in Senegal |
|---|---|
| Housing | Personalize the space (photos, textiles, objects), choose a practical neighborhood |
| Shopping & Food | Identify 2-3 go-to stores, combine local products with a few imported ones |
| Daily Routine | Fixed times for meals, exercise, rest, one daily “pleasure” ritual |
| Relaxation & Leisure | Choose favorite spots (beach, café, market, library, cinema) and return often |
This “mesh” of habits creates a kind of psychological second skin that cushions nostalgia.
Building a Network: The Most Powerful Antidote to Loneliness
Homesickness explodes especially when you’re left alone with your thoughts. Conversely, research shows that expats who surround themselves – friends, colleagues, neighbors, online communities – adapt better and faster, with less emotional distress.
In Senegal, several layers of networks are possible. The first is professional or academic: office colleagues, teachers, fellow students, parents at international schools (some host over a hundred nationalities). Having coffee after work, participating in social activities offered by the company or university, accepting an invitation to a family lunch—these are concrete steps to turn formal connections into personal anchors.
Good to know:
Platforms like InterNations or Expat.com have dedicated sections for Senegal, particularly Dakar. They organize regular events (after-work gatherings, cultural evenings, outings) and interest groups, bringing together people facing the same adaptation challenges, thus providing a space for support and exchange.
Expat.com, which has existed since the late 1990s, offers a very active Senegal forum, with thousands of members in the Dakar region. You’ll find discussions on everything: housing search, schools, health, administrative procedures, but also calls to meet people, start a sports group, go out on weekends. Responding to these messages, posting your own, helps break the ice quickly.
Targeted Online Communities
Beyond major platforms, discover specialized digital spaces to connect specific groups around shared interests, origins, or common actions.
Proximity & Affinity Groups
Local communities like neighborhood WhatsApp groups or thematic collectives (women, entrepreneurs).
Associations & Identity Networks
Clubs for French citizens abroad or associations for diasporas, like the African-American diaspora.
Community Engagement Platforms
DiasporaEngager, for example, helps diasporas (Senegalese, etc.) create groups, post needs, and establish partnerships.
Finally, experiencing teranga from within means daring to connect with Senegalese people. This can happen through the neighborhood, a sports club, dance or music lessons, a charity, a professional project. Ties with local families, Senegalese colleagues, market vendors who recognize you, bring a relational depth that a 100% expat circle cannot offer.
Overview of Resources for Connecting
Here is an overview of some useful socialization channels in Senegal:
| Network Type | Examples and How They Work |
|---|---|
| Expat Communities | InterNations (events in Dakar), Expat.com (Senegal forum), Club des Expatriés |
| Professional Networks | Consulting firms, chambers of commerce, business clubs, professional events |
| Targeted Communities | Association for French Citizens Abroad, groups for people of African descent, DiasporaEngager |
| Informal Groups | Neighborhood WhatsApp groups, Facebook groups like “Expats in Dakar”, sports clubs |
| Local Networks | Cultural associations, surf clubs, music groups, volunteering |
The most important thing is to multiply points of contact: a single group won’t always fill the void of loneliness, but two or three combined networks quickly create a sense of social fabric.
Diving into the Culture of Teranga to Transform Exile into Discovery
Homesickness feeds on constant comparison: “back home, it’s better,” “back home, we do it like this.” One of the most effective strategies is to behave like a curious explorer rather than a nostalgic tourist.
Senegalese culture offers an ideal playground for this. We’re talking about a country where music and dance set the daily rhythm, where attaya tea becomes a full-fledged social ritual, where meals are often shared from a large communal platter, where greetings can last several minutes.
Gradually learning these codes changes one’s perception of the country. Learning a few words of Wolof – even just “Na nga def?” (how are you?) and replying “Maa ngi fi rekk” (I’m fine) – often triggers immediate smiles. Understanding that it’s polite to greet at length, ask about the family, shake hands with the right hand and sometimes place a hand over the heart when greeting an elder gives the feeling of “reading” the society instead of enduring it.
Advice for Travelers to Senegal
Mealtime habits are another learning ground. By understanding, for example, that eating with the right hand from a shared platter is part of the custom (and that the left hand is associated with impurity), you avoid awkwardness that can accentuate the feeling of being “the foreigner who doesn’t understand anything.” Letting yourself be invited to taste a Sunday thieboudienne, a lemon yassa, or a peanut butter mafé associates the country with warm sensory memories rather than just adaptation difficulties.
Exploring the Country to Broaden Your Landmarks
Homesickness strengthens when you’re confined to the same routes: home – work – supermarket. Senegal, on the other hand, benefits from being explored. Getting out of your urban bubble gives the impression of truly making the country your own.
Around Dakar, several places leave a mark. The island of Gorée, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is both a major historical site for the memory of the slave trade and a peaceful village for strolling through colorful alleys. The Pink Lake (Lac Retba) impresses with its changing color and mineral atmosphere. The beaches of the Petite Côte, in Saly, Somone, or Ngaparou, offer seaside breaks. To the north, Saint-Louis, also a UNESCO site, displays its colonial architecture and jazz festivals. Further south, the Sine-Saloum delta, traditional villages, and natural parks allow you to breathe away from Dakar.
These excursions work on several levels: they break the routine, create positive memories, sometimes allow you to meet other travelers or expats, and give the feeling of “knowing” the country better beyond its daily difficulties.
Staying Connected to Loved Ones Without Trapping Yourself
One of the paradoxes of homesickness in the digital age is that you can call your family every day, see your neighborhood live on an app, comment on your friends’ meals back home… and feel even more out of sync. Research shows that too frequent contact, especially in the first weeks, can sustain longing rather than soothe it.
Good to know:
Internet access is generally decent, although quality can vary by neighborhood and provider. For communicating abroad, several solutions exist: free apps like WhatsApp, Zoom, or Skype with a stable connection, as well as specialized platforms offering very low-cost international calls to and from Senegal.
The challenge is to find a happy medium. For example, setting two slots per week for long calls with family, and using the rest of the time to invest in your local daily life. Maintaining a few rituals (a weekly voice message, sending photos, a birthday video) is often enough to keep the bond without being sucked into the “stream” of the life left behind.
This balance can be visualized as follows:
| Aspect | Risk if Excessive | Recommended Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Long daily calls | Reawakens longing, reinforces comparison | 1–2 scheduled long calls per week |
| Social media from home country | Feeling of lack, FOMO, idealization of “back home” | Limit scrolling, prioritize direct exchanges |
| Continuous messaging | Prevents anchoring in the local present | Dedicated time slots for responses |
Keeping a foot in your original life while planting roots in Senegal helps reduce that feeling of being “between two worlds.”
Taking Care of Yourself: Body, Mind, and Personal Routines
Homesickness isn’t just a matter of the heart; it’s also a matter of the body. The Senegalese climate (heat, humidity), dietary changes, the initial jet lag, pollution, can be exhausting. An exhausted body automatically amplifies negative emotions.
Good to know:
Maintaining regular sleep, even during Ramadan or during Netflix binges, is crucial. Practicing physical activity compatible with the climate (morning or evening walks, swimming, indoor air-conditioned sports, soccer on the beach) helps release stress and tension.
Diet also plays a crucial role. Between the temptation of street food, donuts and daily rice, and the desire to taste everything, you can quickly feel heavy, bloated, tired. Incorporating fruits, vegetables (the country is full of mangoes, bananas, papayas, fresh vegetables sold in markets), drinking plenty of water, limiting alcohol, may seem basic but directly impacts mood.
Tip:
To regulate anxiety and rumination, several simple psychological tools are effective. These include journaling, keeping a gratitude notebook (writing down three things you’re grateful for each day), meditation, or a few breathing exercises. In Senegal, meditation or relaxation apps can easily be used as long as you have a smartphone and an internet connection.
Finally, celebrating small achievements – successfully taking a taxi alone in Wolof, haggling correctly at the market, participating in a cross-cultural event, cooking a local dish – reinforces the sense of competence. Instead of focusing on what’s missing, you start to see what’s growing.
When Nostalgia Becomes a Warning Signal
Even when applying all this advice, homesickness can become overwhelming. Studies remind us that it can be fertile ground for depression or an anxiety disorder when sadness and isolation settle in for the long term.
Heads up:
Certain indicators should alert you and signal that it’s no longer just a difficult phase: frequent crying, a total loss of interest in activities usually enjoyed, marked social withdrawal (systematically refusing invitations), persistent sleep or eating disorders over several weeks, an inability to concentrate at work, and thoughts of despair or self-deprecation. In these cases, suffering requiring professional support should be considered.
In Senegal, the mental health offering remains limited compared to Western standards, but it exists. In Dakar, the Fann University Hospital houses the country’s first major psychiatric unit. There are also specialized centers, psychiatrists and psychologists in private practice, NGOs and associations working on mental health, especially for youth and vulnerable populations. Helplines are in service, notably for issues of violence, psychological distress, or addictions.
Good to know:
Psychotherapists trained in expatriation offer video consultation sessions in several languages. This service helps overcome local language barriers and the lack of specialists in certain regions.
The important thing is to avoid two common traps: minimizing (“others have it worse, I should manage on my own”) or feeling guilty (“with everything this country offers me, I have no right to feel bad”). Homesickness is a documented, common phenomenon that can become serious. Asking for help is an act of responsibility, not failure.
Playing the Card of Preparation and Realistic Expectations
In international human resources circles, it’s now known that how a departure is prepared greatly influences the risk of homesickness and expatriation failure. Studies of expats from developing countries sent to London showed that when preparation was vague and on-the-ground support nonexistent, emotional difficulties worsened.
Good to know:
Before your arrival, research the cost of living, climate, healthcare system, cultural norms (religion, dress codes, men-women relations, gestures to avoid), infrastructure (internet access, transportation), as well as visa and residency procedures. This preparation reduces the gap between your expectations and the on-the-ground reality.
Once there, ask your employer or university what welcome structures are in place: orientation sessions, mentoring by colleagues, administrative support, help with housing search, possible psychological support or social assistance. The clearer these provisions are, the less abandoned you feel.
Some organizations plan for the possibility of funding a one-time return trip to the home country after a few months, or specific leaves. Knowing from the start that you’ll have the opportunity, for example, to go back once a year, can ease the feeling of being “cut off forever.”
Articulating Identity of Origin and New Belonging
Ultimately, managing homesickness in Senegal is learning to be both from here and from elsewhere. Over time, many expats and diaspora members describe a more complex identity, not completely “from there,” nor entirely “from here,” but nourished by both worlds.
Example:
Structured networks like DiasporaEngager connect diasporas with their country of origin to facilitate sharing skills, projects, and opportunities. Meanwhile, more informal groups organize hybrid cultural events, such as culinary evenings, concerts, workshops, and solidarity actions, blending the diasporas’ culture of origin with Senegalese culture.
For someone suffering from homesickness, participating in these hybrid spaces can be very soothing. You’re no longer forced to choose between “integrating completely” or “staying turned toward your country of origin”; you can do both. Cooking a dish from home for Senegalese friends, learning a Wolof song for your family during a video call, inviting loved ones to visit Gorée or the Sine-Saloum—all this transforms expatriation into a bridge rather than a cut-off.
Accepting that Adaptation Takes Time
Psychological models of expatriation often describe a curve in several phases: the euphoria of discovery, followed by a crisis period (nostalgia, irritation, rejection of the host country), then a gradual adjustment, and finally a phase of more serene integration. In Senegal as elsewhere, you can’t jump directly from the first to the last.
Good to know:
Adaptation to expatriation doesn’t follow a linear progression. Phases of well-being can alternate with sudden relapses, triggered by events like missing a family celebration, an incident, a bout of homesickness, or culture shock. A temporary return to your home country can also provoke ‘reverse re-entry shock,’ leading to a temporary regression in the adaptation process.
Rather than blaming yourself, it’s more useful to consider these fluctuations as an integral part of the journey. Each wave of nostalgia can become an opportunity to readjust your routines, ask for support, remember why you chose to come, identify what’s truly missing (friends, a support structure, more time for yourself, a better work-life balance) and act on those specific points.
From Homesickness to Inner Wealth
Over time, many who suffered from homesickness in Senegal describe a subtle transformation: as they learn Wolof, navigate crowded markets, share attaya tea with neighbors, discover the beaches, historic cities, and villages, raw nostalgia turns into a form of gratitude. It doesn’t make the longing for family or friends disappear, but their attachment broadens; they feel at home in several places at once.
Good to know:
A well-supported expatriation develops deep and lasting skills, such as adaptability, tolerance for ambiguity, intercultural empathy, awareness of inequalities and privileges, and emotional resilience.
Managing homesickness in Senegal is therefore not a simple “problem to solve,” but an integral part of the journey. By building a rooted home in the local reality, patiently weaving a network, respecting your emotional needs, asking for help when necessary, you give this nostalgia the possibility of becoming something else: a living memory, a lasting link between worlds that could have remained strangers.
Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
