Before you move overseas set up a system to maintain regular communication with your friends and family. This will provide you with solid benefits. It will:
- reassure friends and family that they will still have regular contact with you and therefore you will find them more supportive of your move;
- be one less job to do when you are very busy trying to settle into a new place;
- mean you can contact people easily when you have moments of excitement or homesickness in the first few days.
- Staying in regular contact with friends and family will also help smooth your repatriation transition, even if it is many years later.
Skype, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger
Probably the best form of communication if local networks are compatible. The video link can be difficult but at least the phone link should work. If the video works then you can show your friends and family that you’re happy and healthy but you can also show them some of your surroundings. They can show you what’s happening in their world-a new extension on your parents’ house, your niece’s prom dress, a friend’s new artwork and so on.
Some friends and relatives may need help setting this up initially. If they don’t have a webcam on their computer, help them choose the appropriate webcam to attach. All of this will take the stress out of keeping in touch later.
The best email accounts are free and accessible from anywhere in the world. These include yahoo, hotmail, gmail and many others. Most of these are also accessible from mobile phones making email even easier.
These are good for sharing photos mostly, and possibly brief updates. They can be time consuming and a viewer has to be signed up to look at your page, which may not appeal to all your friends and family.
If you haven’t already set one up now is the time to do so. It can be an easy way to provide weekly or monthly updates to interested friends and family without sending out emails that say the same thing over and over again. Check out Blogger and WordPress for blogging made easy.
Phone
Of course there is still the phone. This is probably the most expensive of these options so far. If you can, try the applications for computer as listed above-they’re free! If you are on the move and don’t have a computer set up or can’t find an internet café, then a quick phone call will reassure people waiting for news. For friends and family who are not IT literate the phone may be the only option to stay in regular contact. Don’t forget to post items to these people as well, (see below).
With the advancement of technology, there are many services available that allow you to make cheap international calls. Many plans are economical and you get great call quality, pretty much the same as a land-line international call. You can even use your own home or mobile phone so that you don’t need to carry around an additional old-school calling card or dial a special number and enter pin numbers for each call.
Mobile texting
If your friends and family have mobile phones that are text enabled, this is a wonderfully spontaneous way of keeping in touch as you move across the globe.
Snail Mail
Besides the phone, the post may be the only way to keep in touch with some friends and family. Record a video of where you live or an interesting event and post it to back home. Make sure it is recorded in a compatible format for them to view! You can also send children’s drawings, photos, and items of interest or gifts from the new country.
There is more effort involved this option: organizing items to send and getting to the post office to send them (and sometimes more cost is involved) but it is essential to remember to do this or those relatives without the IT connections will feel left out.
Presents
Don’t forget to organize a phone call, cards/e-cards, flowers or presents on special days or birthdays for people back home. They will be pleased that you remembered them, even while you’re off on your grand adventure. It takes very little effort to mark a special day for someone and it is part of staying in touch. Use any of the communication methods above, or use internet shopping sites. It’s easiest to shop online at a site based in the country where the recipient is based as shipping charges and shipping times will be less.
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