Living Abroad and Keeping in Touch with Family

Summary: How to affordably keep in touch with family and friends once you expatriate and live abroad

Living abroad is a fantastic way for retirees to stretch a pension and enjoy life to its fullest in a new and exotic destination.  It is also a wonderful way for a younger person to learn about a new culture while creating a life that is excitement-charged and truly unique.  As glamorous as it sounds though, many expats do find themselves feeling more than a touch of homesickness.  Once the honeymoon period wears off, a longing for home, friends and families starts to set in.

So, should expats pack up right then and there and return home?  For some, it might be the answer.  Others however dig their heels in and set their determination to really make a go of the experience.  One of the best ways to ease the pain of homesickness is to come up with a plan for keeping the lines of communication open wide with friends and family back home.  Since phone calls tend to cost too much, some expats are using more creative ways to achieve this without eating the expenses of long distance, international telephone calls – living abroad and keeping in touch with family is more than possible.

Some of the more cost-effective ways expats are using to stay in touch with their loved ones who are far away include: -

Blogging.  This is becoming an incredibly popular way for expats to share their daily experiences of living abroad with loved ones back home.  Since most blogs provide for comments, readers are able to interact directly with the blog writer without any charge other than Internet access.  This not only helps friends and family stay up to date with the expat’s activities, it allows the person to work through feelings and even obtain advice from other expats around the world.

Email.  For more direct communications with loved ones, it’s hard to beat this option.  The only thing that might surpass it is actual handwritten letters.  Since this art is one that is fast becoming lost, friends and family back home tend to adore getting actual, honest to goodness penned letters, postcards and even short notes.

Voice programs.  Another rather nifty tool that expats are employing to their financial advantage comes courtesy of the Internet revolution as well.  This particular method allows for direct, voice discussions with friends and family at no financial charge.  Programs like Skype, TeamSpeak and Ventrillo can enable real-time, voice chat all over the world.  The quality of sound delivered by these programs even across continents tends to be incredibly high and remember a Skype to Skype call is 100% free!

Getting settled in a new country tends to start off with a honeymoon period where the sights, sounds, flavours and culture of a new home country overpowers any feeling of homesickness.  Once the novelty wears off however, many expats find themselves longing for home.  Getting over this hurdle is often aided when there is a way to stay in close contact with loved ones.  Thanks to the Internet, expats are finding they have several affordable, effective means for doing this.  While not everyone will thrive living abroad, some find these methods provide the perfect boost for getting through the rough patches.

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