Moving is a stressful time. Packing up everything you own, leaving your friends and familiar places, and moving to new home isn’t always fun, but it’s something almost everyone has to do in their lives.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but one of the best ways to reduce the discomfort and depression that comes with moving to a strange new city is to keep in contact with your friends back home.
In this article, we look at how to do just that regardless of how many miles separate you and your loved ones. Read more to see how you can keep in touch with family and friends.
Set Up Video Hangouts
Technology allows us to see and speak to each other as easily as making a phone call. With Google Hangouts, FaceTime, and Skype, you can easily stay connected with your loved ones. Video chatting is great because you can still take part in your friend’s lives by seeing them instead of just talking to them.
Agree upon a time — maybe once a week, then put it on your calendar and make it a point to get together on that day. This is better than hoping to ‘catch them at a good time’ because everyone is busy all the time.
Setting regular ‘appointments’ to chat with your friends ensures you’ll both be ready to talk when the time comes and gives you something fun to look forward to, which can be helpful when you’re struggling to make new friends.
Send Voice Messages
Again, technology provides us with wonderful opportunities to stay in touch with each other. Voice texting is another great way to communicate. If setting up appointments to chat is too much of a hassle in your busy lives, sending a voice text is the next best thing.
If:
You have an iPhone, you can send voice messages via the built-in messaging app or if you prefer, you can opt for a third-party app like Cord or HeyTell, which allows you to send short voice messages.
You can message your friend just to say ‘hi’ or to tell them about a great new restaurant you’ve discovered and prod them into visiting your new home to try it out. Voice messages are a great way to stay in touch because it takes the pressure off making phone calls because people’s schedules fluctuate, especially when they have young kids.
Social Media
Sites like Facebook are still a good way for people to keep in touch and allow you to stay on top of what all of your friends are up to. Sure, it’s not as personal as a phone call, text message or voice message, but it allows you to know what’s happening and interact with each other so you’re still ‘in the know’.
If you’re not into Facebook, check out Instagram, it’s a great tool that allows people to stay in touch with each other and see what’s going on in their lives. You can use Twitter too, but some may find that their updates get lost in the shuffle.
Vlogging
Have you thought about setting up a personal vlog on YouTube? In case you don’t know, vlog stands for video blogs, and all you need is a selfie stick and a phone to record your antics, thoughts, and travels. Most people are recording a lot of what’s going on in their lives anyway, so why not have you and your friends share your adventures online?
Blogging
Sure, it’s not as glamorous a vlogging, but setting up a blog is easier and not as intensive as shooting video, having to edit it, and uploading it to YouTube. You can set up a blog for next to nothing and begin making a diary of what’s going on in your life.
The best thing about a blog is that you can include photos too. Maybe you found a quaint coffee shop in town that you want everyone to know about. Write up your experience and take some photos of your latte and put it on your blog so your friends can see what you’re up to.
Remember:
You don’t have to write a lot if you don’t want to. Just a photo and a few sentences of what’s going on are enough to show everyone what you’re into.
Shared Folders
If you’re not into Facebook or other social media sites but still want to stay up-to-date with one another, consider setting up a shared folder on Google Drive, Dropbox or any other cloud storage site. You can make the folder private where only a select few people can view, and upload your photos and videos so everyone can see what you’re into and vice versa.
Group Chats
Like hangouts or conference calls, a group chat is another great way for a group of friends or family members to keep in touch with each other. You can use iMessage, WhatsApp or even Snapchat for everyone to log on at a set time to talk about what’s going on in your lives. Most of these platforms even allow you to upload photos and short videos too.
Become Pen Pals
Writing letters? Yes! With everything digital today, taking up the lost art of letter writing can be fun and more personal than sending a text or posting a comment on social media. Writing letters is fun and you have to take your time to compose your thoughts, which creates a stronger bond between the people communicating.
Get some nice stationery, a fountain pen, and take your time to write a letter. Besides, getting something like a personal letter in the mail is a nice change from all the junk that’s cluttering up your mailbox.
With technology today, there are a variety of ways to stay in touch with friends and family when you move. Find out what works best and stick with it. Have you recently moved into a new home?
What ways do you use to keep in touch with your long distance friends and family? Let us know in the comment section!
