Does anyone else feel "homesick" when staying at hotels/friends houses (not about people but the actual surroundings)?

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Does anyone else feel "homesick" when staying at hotels/friends houses (not about people but the actual surroundings)?

I know it's fairly typical to feel homesick about people e.g. to miss family or friends but I get a strong homesickness feeling and feel uneasy and on edge whenever I have to sleepover in any place that isn't my own home (e.g. friend's house, hotels, even family's home if it's been ages since I moved out). My place is tiny and awful but I always prefer it, even compared to a fancy hotel because of familiarity.

This feeling often puts me off going on holiday, etc.

Has anyone else felt like that or am I odd?

I dislike staying in other people's homes no matter how nice the house or the people because I feel (psychologically) restricted, limited, watched, etc. I like staying in self catering accommodation and some hotels (not so much B&Bs or small hotels).

I like to feel "at home" which for me doesn't mean made welcome so much as free to come and go and not be in guest mode.

That's not really what you mean though I guess.

The only time I felt as you describe was during my pregnancies, when I felt desperately unhappy when I travelled (a significant distance) to visit my parents. The idea of going into labour or needing to be hospitalised or for any other reason getting "stuck" away from my own home made me deeply uncomfortable, unsettled and restless.

Yes! I much prefer sleeping in my own home!

Which has probably made lockdown easier

@AllIMissNowIsTheSea don’t ever stay in a guesthouse in Canada, as they fuss over you like nothing else.

bagpusscatpuss noted :o

tbh I'm not sure I'll ever leave Europe again. There is so much variety within Europe itself. We travel a lot within Europe with the kids, but they can explore the rest of the world when they fly the nest if they choose! I travelled alone all over the world in my late teens and twenties but cba with long haul any more!

For me home means freedom, somewhat ironically, but while I love the freedom travel can also bring, and being in new places and cultures, I loathe being a guest.

Yes. Nervous, edgy feeling. I like staying in the Premier inns, because they all look the same. I love travel, new places etc, but I wish I could take my home with me!

Absolutely never in hotels as I always choose ones that fit my requirements (and travel a lot for work).
Less keen on staying at people's houses.

I enjoy staying in hotels (although don't sleep as well as at home) but really dislike staying in other people's houses and go out of my way to avoid it, even with close family.

As PP have said, staying at other people’s houses can make you feel awkward and like you’re being watched. I never do it now!

Kind of. If I go on holiday I do think "oh I wish I was at home"but it only lasts a few days. I think it's because of a fear of the unknown. Don't know where to get things etc and then it all settles down

@lifestooshort123

Your description sums up perfectly how I feel too!!

when I go to bed I always get a slightly sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and my heartbeat goes up - a friend said it sounds like an adrenaline imbalance, a fear or flight reaction! So to me it feels more like wanting the security of my own home rather than homesickness.

Yeah I hate it, can’t stand going away or on holiday. If i do go away for weekends etc it’s for my children’s sake but if it was just me I’d never go I despise holidays. If one good thing has come out if this current situation it’s not having to go away.

Anxious Introvert here. I don't like staying at friends and family houses except for my parents' house but I grew up there. My husband is the same, doesn't like staying over at my parents' house, likes the house he grew up in. I always feel like I'm treading on toes in other folks' houses, like my presence is an inconvenience.

I hate 5+ hotels. So big, so impersonal. We both look an "naice" 3 hotels which are usually more comfortable to us. Bed, breakfast, some smellies in the bathroom, a person on the desk to help, what more do we need?

Have been to some guesthouses and B&Bs who had the right level of friendliness (sorry if that sounds rude but to an introvert you can quickly get overwhelmed) but I remember one where all the guests had to eat at one long table. Nightmare.

I love Premier Inns because you can check in at a computer terminal and the staff mostly leave you alone .

Love sleeping in a hotel. That might be because usually I'm holiday / special occasion.

Hate staying over at other people's houses though

So glad to see I’m not the only one who feels like this. I was convinced that the only explanation for it may be that it’s a symptom of possible aspergers or anxiety... !

Yes I do. I never sleep well when away from home although I like the idea of it.

Bloody love hotels. Hate other people's houses. It's the "oooh should I go to the loo now, where's the lightswitch, what time should I go downstairs" thing. Makes me feel about 6.

This is me completely. I never know whats 'allowed'.

I can never totally relax at other people's houses. When they say 'make yourself at home' I don't know how to. i would never dream of looking in their fridge without asking first.

I think it is a very natural, territorial thing to feel extra wary away from home. I am (secretly) pleased we’ve had to cancel our holiday tbh. I often use Valerian tablets and earplugs at night when I am away. It’s a sensitivity thing.

I'm another one who loves hotels and hates other people's houses. I'm always afraid that if I have a wee in the middle of the night I'll wake them up by accident, and I also really need some time to decompress before bed and it's hard to get that on my own or with DH only at other people's houses. Oh, and when we're at my in laws, any of them, they are all early risers. DH is not. So I never know whether it will be less awkward to go down without him or stay in the room significantly later than they do. (I might be inventing some awkwardness in my head but my MIL has been known to comment...)

How do you feel about sharing a room with a colleague?

I absolutely refused to share a bedroom with a (teaching) colleague on a school trip a couple of years ago, despite people being surprised by this. I just refused to go if they didn't give me my own room. There is no way in hell I could have shared a twin room and a bathroom with a person I work with and barely know.

It made me ill to even consider it!

Homesick is EXACTLY how I feel OP. I find I'm ok with hotels, I think the generic surroundings mean it becomes my temporary home. The thought of staying in other people's houses makes me tearful and anxious, which could not be further from usual me. I couldn't do sleepovers as a child or teenager at all. And then I feel bad for feeling bad and that makes me feel even worse!

BlessYourCottonSocks I've done similar on a training residential. Just no. I slept in massive bink beded dorms and even on mats on hotel flat roofs with 10+ others in desert climates as a backpacking teenager/ very early 20s... but I'm not sharing a twin or tripple with colleagues as an adult in my 40s, and I'm not doing it for work!