Ask Evie: How Do I Prevent Loneliness When My Husband Travels For Work?

READER’S QUESTION: "Dear Evie Magazine, Do you have any suggestions for staying happy and busy with a crazy schedule? My husband works away from home for half the month, then he is home the other half. I'm struggling to find balance with this biweekly shift. I work part-time but want to be home with him as much as I can, but then I am bored out of my mind when he is gone. Thanks in advance!"

EVIE’S ADVICE: Pick up some hobbies! Choose flexible activities that you can pause when your husband is home and resume when he is traveling. Things like quilting, felting, crocheting, and knitting are all feminine activities that can be picked up and put down. When you're home alone, you can listen to an audiobook or put on a movie and work with your hands. Or explore watercolors or sketching or sculpting. There are countless books, websites, and tutorial videos on YouTube and social media that teach the basics, and there are tons of online resources with free instructions and patterns.

Pick a new book or project to work on at the start of each two week sprint alone and make a goal to finish it by the time your husband is home. Not only will you have something to keep you busy, but you'll have something to talk about or show him when he gets home.

Pick a new book or project to work on at the start of each two week sprint alone and make a goal to finish it by the time your husband is home. 

Use your evenings alone to catch up with friends or on your self-care. Schedule your phone calls with friends or girls' nights out while your husband is gone. Use those evenings for self-care and girl maintenance like manicures, mud masks, or shaving your face. Most men don't like the smell of nail polish, so painting your nails in a husband-free home is a win-win.

You can also schedule virtual date nights with your husband when he’s traveling! Talking over the phone or texting to simply fill each other in on what happened that day can get old, and fast. It can also make you feel like your relationship is getting stale or you’re slowly drifting apart, especially if you’re feeling sad and lonely when he’s away. This is your chance to date each other in a more creative way and nurture your relationship! Here are 17 creative date ideas for long-distance relationships that would work for you when your husband is traveling. 

The key here is going to be to plan your activities in advance. A day or two before your husband leaves, make a game plan for what you're going to do while he's gone. Who are you going to catch up with? Is there a new restaurant in town or a new recipe you want to try? What hobby do you want to do? What creative date nights are you both going to try to forge a deeper connection? By making a plan before you're alone, hopefully you'll wake up excited to engage in something you enjoy instead of wandering through the house feeling sad or wasting your whole evening scrolling social media.

Have a question you want our advice on? Email it to us at ask@eviemagazine.com.