Ria Saltsidis-Oekas MA, MSc

I come from a multi-cultural family with Indonesian and Dutch roots. I am very interested in culture and travelled a lot. I lived and worked in Greece for about eight years. When I returned home in the Netherlands, I can say in hindsight that I experienced reverse culture shock and really had to adjust. The difference in lifestyle was so obvious. I missed the food, my day to day life and the friends I made in Greece. My travel experiences and my living and working abroad period formed my identity and changed my worldview. I learned a lot, also about myself. I am aware that you can look at persons, things, events and situations from more than one perspective and that they are all worthwhile. I really look at the experiences as enriching. It also led to my job at an international university, my research into and  master thesis on reverse culture shock and contributing to this book, which hopefully will be a help and inspire everyone to get the best out of their stay or study abroad experience!

Nynke Nicolai MA, MSc

My first time abroad experience was a half year internship in England. I learned so much from living abroad about my personality, about my values, about my culture and differences in culture. I kept a weekly blog, not to inform people of my activities but to process my own experience. Reading back those blogs and looking at old pictures gives me an euphoric feeling.

When I came back home from my stay abroad, I had a completely different view of my life. I wanted to do things differently, my perspective had changed. After this study abroad, I wanted to make more trips. So, I went to Bolivia to do some volunteering work and after that for a half year trip around the world. The urge to travel does not stop and that is something I struggle a lot with. When I was home, I felt restless. I could not place all the feelings that I had after my trips. Now, after working on this book, I know that these feelings belong to reverse culture shock. I hope to inspire and help travelers with this book and with our tips.

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