FOMO Abroad. Budgeting and Balancing Personal Needs

Justus Miller

FOMO, if you didn’t already know, stands for fear of missing out. It is that feeling of worry and anxiety that arises when you realize that other people are doing something that you are not. It can be your friends, it can be acquaintances, it can be absolutely anybody or a group of somebodies doing something, and it has gotten so much worse with social media. Because now, even if you hated having to say no to a group trip, or checked your bank account and realized you can’t fly out for another weekend, or simply have another commitment or school work to be doing while others experience something, when you look at your phone, you see the photos, you see the story videos, and the group photos tagged with everyone who is not you. Even if it is total strangers, you feel like every single stranger did something you didn’t. FOMO is not quite jealousy, but a little sigh-worthy moment, a quiet linger of dissonance.  

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