On Saying Goodbye and Staying Connected

Ben here, I've moved around a fair bit in my life, and amongst those moves have been a few moves from the UK to the US and vice versa. One of the things that is the hardest when moving to another country is saying goodbye to family and friends.

          This past week we had to say goodbye to some of our dearest friends and it sucked. Now I'm a crying kind of guy, if I feel emotionally moved I'll cry, but nothing will reduce me to a quivering pile of tears than having to say a final goodbye to people whom I love. I was a mess, Hannah was a mess, some of our friends were a mess too (thankfully we were not alone in our messness ;) ) So rather than dwell on the goodbyes and hopefully to help people in a similar situation I decided to share some of my coping techniques for coping when I'm in another country (which is all the time now as I have friends and family in so many countries I'm always missing someone).

·        Facebook, sadly this makes top of the list because it's just so damn convenient. If you don't have a Facebook account at the moment (and I admire anyone who has made it without on) get one. You don't have to use it a lot, but it is an amazingly great way to connect with people all over the world. I use Facebook Messenger all the time to talk to friends and would be lost without this connection to some of them. You can also use Facebook to connect with ex-patriot groups in the country you are living in and this will give you a place to vent with people who have been and are going through the exact same things as you are in adapting to another culture.

·         Skype- I cannot sing Skype's praises enough. You can use it just as another messenger type program, but it's so much more. For a small amount of money you can get a phone number in your home country which your friends and family can call you on (after a stern talking to about the importance of remembering the time difference so they don't wake you up at 4am). More than just having a number for people to call you on you can also get unlimited calling through Skype, and if the person you are calling has caller ID they will see the Skype number you purchased (if you didn't buy a Skype number they will get a random number each time you call). You can pay by the minute if you don't think you'll call out often or you can get a subscription. I've used both in the past and most of the time I don't find the subscription to be worth it, as incoming calls don't cost me anything and it's a local number for my friends to call so it's free for them as well.

·         Old fashioned letters. I hate writing letters, but I love getting them, I'm a conundrum I know ;) but there is nothing better than getting a lovely message from a friend sent through the mail. The added bonus is that you can stick a little gift in with the letter as well (or stick the letter in a giant parcel if you really want to send them lots of things!)

·         Lastly, and this probably shouldn't be on here but I'm writing it so I get to put what I want in here, food. Food from your home country will do wonders to soothe homesickness. For me it's chocolate and sausages from the UK that will help when I'm in the US. It's ok to miss your home country and the people in it and giving into a little extra expense to purchase things that make you feel at home is almost always worth it.

If you have any questions feel free to comment below and I or Hannah will try to give the best answers we can.