Hi, this summer I've embarked on my first solo travel adventure to Germany. I first visited Germany 5 years ago as part of a high school trip where I was one of 40+ in a group for the first 10 days then spent about an additional 14 days 1+ hour away from everyone else with my exchange student living in a host family situation (I had hosted her the previous fall so I knew her beforehand). I've continued taking German courses off and on during college and wound up in a position where I'm 2 classes and credit from a study abroad program away from getting a second degree in German in addition to my primary major. My options for a qualifying program we're either an internship in Germany (in computer engineering/programming) or a sufficiently rigorous cultural course of 3+ credits. I don't feel competent enough to handle a technical internship in German so I opted for a course. My school didn't offer any group programs with a qualifying course so I've wound up taking a 4 week intensive Goethe language course and going solo. (4 week course + 3 weeks of additional travel time)I've been here a few days and stayed in some hostels before the course starts but I can't say I've really been enjoying myself. I have struggled with sleeping full nights and haven't really made any friends (yes I've been trying to start conversations with my dorm-mates, the ones I've hit it off with happened to be ones staying in my city for a flight out the next day. Go figure). Interaction with locals has also been a large point of anxiety for me. I'm not diagnosed with any form of anxiety or anything, but I've always struggled with social interactions with new people. I had hoped this trip would help me work out the social muscle and get better at that, but it feels more like a constant cloud of stress. It sounds stupid, but I also really miss my cat and bf (this will be the longest I'm away from them in 4 years). I've cried a few times and I feel guilty. Mine and my bf's families have been super supportive financially for this trip because I have LOVED traveling with them and we all thought I'd love this too.Despite technically having years of courses under my belt, I don't feel that strong in my language skills largely due to the fact that there's been a few gaps of 1+ semesters without German (and some heavy brain drain) and most courses not involving much speaking/heavy grammar. For the course to count as rigorous enough I need to be placed at least B1 (levels are A1/A2/B1/B2/C1/C2 with the As being introductory and B1 representing a decent grasp on grammar and conversational skills that allow you to handle most life situations and discuss things like hobbies in good depth without much struggle. Sometimes courses will split levels into halves I e. A1.1, A1.2) and my instructors felt like I would easily make that, but I didn't do very hot on the first part of my placement exam due to a strong focus on grammatical areas I struggle with and some unfamiliar vocab. Because of this I'm not sure at this moment if I will place into a level that I can transfer. If I don't get the credit this summer I'll likely have to drop the major (next year is my final year in my primary major and I can't justify more time/money being spent in school right now). It's not the end of the world, but it would really suck.I'll definitely stick it out long enough to at least give the class a solid shot and hopefully make friends there and see what level I'm in, but how do you tell if you're at the point where going home might be the option for you? So far I haven't been too into the hostel experience and so have also considered cutting the 9 days following the class that were currently planned as open solo travel. How do you know when you're at a point to make a decision like that? How do you handle family that may be disappointed that you're not sticking out the whole trip? Are there suggested ways of coping with loneliness, missing people, stress and anxiety, etc? via /r/solotravel http://bit.ly/314gYBZ