Homesickness is an ancient phenomenon, mentioned in both the Old Testament book of Exodus and Psalm 137:1 ("By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.") and Homer's Odyssey, whose opening scene features Athena arguing with Zeus to bring Odysseus home...because he is homesick.
In early 2005, Reyes was reported to be homesick while at Arsenal, even though his parents, Mari and Francisco, as well as brother Jesús lived with him in England.
Biruk accepted an offer to join the youth system in Amsterdam only to come back to Israel six months later citing homesickness.