Tas Anjarwalla from CNN has outlined the ‘reverse culture shock’ that many long-term volunteers face when returning home from abroad.

Many volunteers find that coming back and readjusting to home life can actually be harder than settling into a foreign culture overseas.

According to one volunteer, “you get used to a certain way of life over there”, making returning to the hectic lifestyle of the modern western world a slightly bewildering experience. However, the impact of reverse culture shock can easily be reduced if volunteers prepare to re-integrate rather than expect it to happen seamlessly.

Sharing your experiences is one way of avoiding any feelings of isolation. Friends and family may not be able to relate to your experiences, but they will be fascinated to hear of your travels.

Online volunteering forums are a great place to share your stories and views with like-minded individuals and many volunteer organisations will be able to put you in touch with a returned volunteering community.

Finally, long-term volunteers should accept that their experience has changed them. Volunteers often return more open-minded and with a different perspective on life and coming to terms with this is an important step to adjusting back into home life.

To stay in touch with the Inspire volunteering community please sign up to our newsletter in the right-hand side of this page, or find out how we build volunteer continuity through the FutureSense Foundation.