Post written by Sherri Kruger. Follow me on Twitter.
Being away from family and friends is never easy.
If you’re the one leaving there’s all the excitement of planning and packing and the travel itself. Then once you’ve arrived there’s exploring new places and meeting new people, it’s easy to momentarily forget about all the people you left behind. But don’t forget about them for too long :)
The family and friends you leave behind are eager to hear from you, to know that you’re doing okay and to share in your excitement. There are now many ways that you can stay in touch with the people back home without it eating into your travel budget.
Writing home
Snail mail. While most of the suggestions I make here rely on the Internet, it’s important not to forget those who aren’t as tech savvy and don’t own a computer. Writing a letter by hand is a nice way to just slow down. It lets the recipient know that you thought of them and that they were worth taking a bit of time out to share your experiences with.
Email. I’m not sure where we’d be without email. While I’m not a huge fan of group emails they do come in handy. You can only get excited about the old pub you found on your first walk around the city so many times. A group email works well in these situations so that no one misses out on your excitement and enthusiasm. Create a group in Gmail or Hotmail to make addressing your emails to a number of people even more convenient.
Blog. Blogging is easier to do now more than ever. You can set up a free blog in a matter of minutes with services such as blogger or wordpress. Blogging is a great way to keep a large group up to date on your travels and has the added benefit of being a travel journal for yourself when you eventually return home.
Instant messaging. This takes a bit more coordination since you both need to be online at the same time. To make timetable-ing a bit easier try the meeting planner at timeanddate.com. Instant messaging is free and is a great way to touch base in real time and not have to wait for email responses. If you’re not familiar with instant messaging you can read more on google chat and Windows live by following the links.
People love to hear your voice
Old school phone. For those people who are not so technical savvy a good old fashioned phone call works wonders. Long distance rates can tend to scare people off but there can be really good calling plans or promotions through the various providers. It would be worth a call to see what your options are. Alternatively, you could use a calling card. Again shop around as the rates vary a lot.
Skype. For those of you with a computer there is Skype. I love Skype. It’s a service that allows you to make phone calls through your computer. It’s completely free to set up an account and calls are completely free when you use it to call anyone else on Skype. Talk, leave messages, conference call and if you both have web-cams you can even do live video chats. It’s really easy to use and great even if you’re not travelling but make a fair few long distance phone calls.
Share pictures
People love to see what you’re up to. There are a lot of free photo sharing sites on the net that allow you to upload your photos and share them with friends. A few that I’ve used are Picasa, Shutterfly and Flickr. Of course if you’re like a billion other people on the planet then you’ll already be on Facebook and this provides a great way to stay in touch and share your pictures with others as well.
Staying in touch with family and friends doesn’t have to be a chore. Thanks to the Internet, even though the distance between you may be huge it doesn’t have to feel like it. For live chats or phone calls come up with a schedule of time and frequency that works for everyone. The rest of the time update your loved ones when you have access to the Internet or simply have something to share. Remember,what’s seemingly insignificant to you could be just what those of us who are living vicariously through you are craving. :)
If you’ve had to keep in touch over long distances what have I missed? What would you add?
You listed snail mail and within that, I’d mention postcards specifically. People don’t send them so much these days but I think for grandparents whose travelling days are over, it’s really nice to receive a postcard showing an exciting location that their grandchildren or whoever are exploring, as well as reading a bit about their trip.
Facebook can be good too for more tech-savvy friends and family. It’s quick to add a note about where you are and upload a photo or two.
For those who have them, cell phones can be a bit cheaper than phone cards, depending on where your destination is and your plan. Also, if you don’t have access to a computer, you can always text people. Sending photos via MMS is another option, if you’re out sight-seeing, and really want others to know what you’re experiencing at a given moment. Video can even be taken, either with a cell phone or a digital camera, and then uploaded to a computer. If you are travelling for an extended period of time, care packages can even go both ways–suveniours and other gifts can be sent as well as photos and postcards. If you don’t want to blog, you could even set up a web page (though blogging is a bit faster). The options are almost endless!
I like keeping in touch in person always, next best is phone or video chat. Email seems so impersonal, but great for sharing pictures or data files.
We live out of the country so to keep in touch with our kids in the U.S we got a Vonage account. The phone works through the internet and we have been very pleased with the connections. For 30.00 per month we have a U.S number with unlimited U.S. calling.
Also we write post cards and letters through the P.O. and I can put pictures on them and write a note. The great thing about these is they get them in a couple of days versus ten days if we write from Costa Rica.
And we love Skype! My daughter lives in Hondurus and we can talk to her free every day for hours and with the web cam I can see the grandkids.
My sister moved out of state two years ago and we usually keep in touch by cell phone or our blogs. We literally talk 10 times a day. We try to visit each other every other month. Now that she has a baby we have been wanting to try Skype I hear a lot of people like it. I just don’t want to miss a moment of my nephew growing up.
True it’s never been easier to keep in touch but do we keep touching too? Actually meeting in person wherever possible with someone who matters to us for a chat or meal or a few hours of their company? When we can shake hands, give them a real hug even a kiss. You can’t fully show your love in an e-mail or tweet truly what you mean or feel. Too many choose the ‘send’ or ‘post’ option rather than the effort to speak for real. So we can keep in touch easier but it’s becoming easier not to do that in person. We need not lose the personal in person and touching in keeping in touch.
Skype is a very new favorite of mine! It is wonderful for family to be able to keep in touch and see your kids through video calling. Especially now that we have family traveling in very faraway places like Africa. Snail mail cards are still my favorite for special occasions. For me it feels more special and thoughtful for certain events.
I use a combination of things to keep in touch with my 4 kids and husband. For the younger ones, I like to see my kids’ faces when I’m away, so I ask my husband to send me pictures of them having a good time. I talk to them over the phone. With my teen daughter, I like to text message her and tell her what I’m doing right at that moment, or ask her what she’s doing at the same time. My husband and I keep in touch by phone, once all the kids have gone to bed.
Angelica @ Modern Familia
I met my husband online and we had to endure 18 months of separation while he tied up his life in the UK and we worked on the immigration. We tried everything but found that Oovoo video chat was wonderful. It’s so nice to see the other person’s face. Also, when dealing with time zones (ours was 6 hours) we found it was necessary to set specific times to talk. Otherwise our lives got too busy and time would run out. Pennytalk.com is another inexpensive calling card type service that lets you talk to most places overseas for 2cents/min. The most important thing is to make a commitment to just DO it. Call every Saturday or every day or whatever works, but you have to plan for it or it never happens. We also rely on Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends overseas. Smart comments on status messages make brothers feel close!