When I was growing up (gosh, that makes me sound like I’m 70 years old or something, ha!) there weren’t many ways to keep in touch with friends and family members while traveling. If you weren’t home to make phone calls or answer calls, you were stuck. I don’t even remember my parents having cell phones and so making phone calls on the go just wasn’t an option. In elementary and middle school I took annual summer trips to visit my grandparents. I would leave shortly after the last day of school and I wasn’t returning until a good week before school started back up again. That means I went almost 2 months without seeing or talking to my closest friends. My, how have times changed. My 14-year old sister came to visit me a few weeks ago and she FaceTime’d a few of her gal pals almost every night. She also connected with them through email and text messages. My sister has been bouncing from several family members’ houses this summer and she could definitely get an A+ on effectively communicating with family while traveling. Here are some of my favorite ways to keep in touch with those you love while on the go.
Video chat: With FaceTime and Skype, seeing someone that is miles and miles away from you is easier than ever. It literally takes only seconds to connect with someone. Anytime I travel out of town without taking my daughter with me, I make sure to FaceTime her and sing her a few songs before she goes to bed.
Send an email: Since we are all already connected to our phones, it won’t be much of an issue to send a quick email to those who may be missing you. An email documenting what you’ve been up to, places you’ve been and things you’ve eaten is like the modern day version of writing a letter.
Chat via text message: I can’t be the only one that text messages the same person for hours at a time. Even if you don’t have time to have lengthy chat messages, sending a quick “Hey, here’s what I’m up to______” text message can keep you connected with your loved ones. I find this to be the most effective because it doesn’t require much time and there is so much that you can say.
Chat via phone: The phone used to be revered decades ago but now it isn’t as trendy as video chatting and text messaging is. Your older relatives will appreciate this more than the younger folks but that’s okay.
Send a postcard: Call it cheesy but I love grabbing postcards from cities that I’m visiting and then sending those postcards out to friends and family members. It’s unexpected but it’s a great way to say “hello”. Postcards are easy to find as I’ve been able to get them from airports, gas station sand even more hotels keep postcards on handy.
How do you keep in touch with your friends and family members?
