When I first moved to Spain, I noticed something kind of funny. After long days of tapas, siestas, and trying to convince people my Spanish was just okay, not great, I’d come home, curl up on the couch, and put on… American TV shows.
Not just any shows, either. I was glued to storylines set in places like Seattle, New York, or Tennessee. Basically, the kind of backdrops I had just left behind. At the time, I didn’t think much of it. But looking back, it makes perfect sense. Watching American-based shows felt like comfort food. It was familiar. It kept me tethered to “home” while everything around me felt new, different, and slightly overwhelming.
Fast forward. Now I’ve been back in the States for about two and a half months, and guess what’s been showing up in my watch history? European movies. Yep, suddenly I’m into French romances, Italian dramas, and even the kind of artsy Spanish films that would’ve completely gone over my head a year ago.
It’s like my brain flipped the switch: when I was in Europe, I craved American stories to feel grounded. Now that I’m back in the U.S., I crave European ones to feel connected to the life I just left. My Netflix queue is basically having its own little identity crisis.
Being from Tennessee, obviously, I had to put on Hannah Montana: The Movie at some point while I was in Spain. And looking back, it’s kind of hilarious. Like… homesickness? What homesickness? I was literally sitting in my little Spanish apartment watching Miley Stewart ride horses through fields in Tennessee, eating pie at a country fair, and having dramatic teen meltdowns in a barn.
It wasn’t just the comfort of the movie itself; it was the comfort of watching something rooted in my state, tied to my own childhood. It was like a two-for-one hit of nostalgia: familiar accents, familiar scenery, and memories of when life’s biggest problem was whether Hannah Montana’s wig was crooked.
And that’s the sneaky thing about homesickness. Sometimes it doesn’t show up as crying into your pillow or wanting to book the next flight home. Sometimes it’s just you gravitating toward the shows and movies that remind you of where you came from, almost like a subconscious hug. Watching Hannah Montana while living across the ocean was my brain’s way of saying: “See? Home isn’t gone. It’s right here with you.”
Culture shock doesn’t always hit in big, dramatic ways either. Sometimes it’s hiding in the tiny details, like what you want to binge-watch at the end of the day. And honestly? I think it’s kind of sweet. It means no matter where I go, a part of me is always reaching for the other side, balancing between what feels like home and what feels like adventure.
So, if you ever catch yourself suddenly obsessed with British period dramas or Spanish rom-coms while living in the U.S., or rewatching every episode of Friends while you’re abroad, don’t question it too much. That’s just your inner traveler adjusting, grounding, and reminding you that home can be both where you are and where you’ve been.
Love always,
American Girl Meets World
