Going away for a while? In the excitement of it all, it can be easy to forget that it’s also significant for friends and family back home – they’ll miss you, perhaps worry about you, and hopefully be a bit jealous of you too! So here’s a quick guide to staying in touch while you’re away.

Email

It’s cheap, quick, and – unless you’re really in the middle of nowhere – a really easy way of letting a lot of people know that you’re alive and well. But when it comes to group emails, remember that not everyone in your address book will want to know all the details of your holiday, so be a little bit selective!

Online photos

There are now countless sites which let you upload your photos while you’re travelling – it’s up to you to invite friends and family to have a look. Not only is it nice for people back home, and a fun way to keep in contact; it’s also a good way of organising your pictures as you go, so you don’t have hundreds to sort through when you get home.

Phone

For some reason, travellers often think that calling home is too extravagant, even when it might cost no more than a drink or a bite to eat. The value of phone cards varies wildly, but remember that conventional landlines will be cheaper than payphones. And if you’ve got access to the internet, Skype (online phoning) might well be the best bet.

Postcards and letters

It may sound old fashioned, but receiving a hand-written letter or postcard really does mean so much more than an email – especially if the email is being sent to 50 other people at the same time! If you get the chance, why not put aside an afternoon, have a couple of drinks, and write one or two letters to the people you miss most? It can be a nice experience for you, as well as for them…

Text message

Texting in normally associated with day-to-day arrangements, and not keeping in touch with friends thousands of miles away. But that’s what can set it apart from letters and emails. There’s something reassuring about a casual text – people will feel that, however far away you might be, you’re thinking of them.

Make sure you leave all the details of your itinerary and overseas travel insurance with your family – it’s extra peace of mind for everyone!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 31st, 2010 at 7:46 am and is filed under Guides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.