Ex-Pats Unite! How To Stay in Touch wIth Family if You Live Abroad
These days it is so easy to travel. A lot of us have flexible careers that allow us to take time off for holidays, as well as the flexibility to work from anywhere that there is the internet. So it is no surprise that more and more of us are taking time out to travel abroad, as well as moving to live abroad. For the short-term as well as long-term. I’m sure we’ve all got friends that have at least one family member that lives abroad. It is just getting much more commonplace, as it can be easy to travel and work can be international.
As fun as it can be living in a new culture, there are still family and friends that are left behind where you used to be. Quite often, depending on the country, family would need to apply for things like a family visitor visa to come and visit. So visits can’t always be as frequent as we’d like them to be. So here are some tips for staying in touch with family and friends if you or they live abroad.
Start a Blog
If you have several people to keep in touch with and that want to know what you have been up to, starting a blog is a great way to keep them updated. You don’t have to feel like you’re constantly relaying the same message to different sides of the family, when you can just point them in the direction of the blog. This will be a great idea if you are taking time out to travel abroad as you’ll have a lot of new adventures to update them on. It is a good idea with kids too as you can just fill the blog with photographs for them all to see.
Create a Mailing List
If you don’t like the idea of a blog, then you could send out an email to a family mailing list. It could be a weekly email, for instance, with all that you have been up to and all of your news. Unlike a blog, it can be easier to get their replies. As you’ll want to hear all about how things are going for them too. So if you want to keep things a little more personal and private, this would be a good idea for you.
Use Apps
There are so many apps that are free to use that help you stay in touch with people. Some of the best are things like WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype and Google Hangouts. As long as you’ve got a wifi connection, you can easily keep in touch. If you don’t want to necessarily call them to speak face to face, then WhatsApp is the best. You can just send each other messages, like texts, and it’s all received in real time. Great if you just have something silly to share with them or want to ask a quick question.
Do you have many family or friends that have moved abroad?
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