How To Stay Connected To Your Family While Living Overseas

Are you living overseas without your family? Staying connected to your loved ones whilst away over the holiday period? This article will teach you some valuable tips for nurturing the relationships between you and those you love, no matter where they are.  

Video Call 

Whilst emails, texting, or calling are great... nothing can beat the feeling of “actually” talking to someone you love, face to face. When you are overseas and can't arrange a time to visit them for the holidays or special occasions, it becomes harder for you to staying connected. However, thanks to modern video calling technology, there is now a way we can speak to our friends and family AND see their faces whilst living far apart! There are so many platforms that offer video calls now, not only iPhone’s FaceTime but also apps including WhatsApp, Zoom, Facebook Messenger and Skype. They all allow users to host their calls for free with landlines worldwide and low rates for mobile phones. 

 

An important aspect of maintaining connections with you family and friends whilst living abroad is to not forget to discuss the day-to-day activities you're doing whilst away, with you loved ones. Although living away from familiarity and family can lead to a sense of loneliness, that you might think they won't understand, the adverse effect of you not sharing your life with them is that they will begin to feel they are missing out on knowing you and being in the loop. So, instead of closing yourself off and accepting your loneliness as you're apart, be willing to share everything with those you're closest with, even if that is the more mundane aspects, the stresses or the joys of your life away, your family will always want to know and they will always be there to listen when you need.

 

Send gifts 

Creating memories is a major aspect of any Christmas celebration. It happens naturally throughout the festive season, but making shared memories when you're physically away from your family is much harder.  To do so might require you to get a bit creative. It could be sharing some photos or videos on social media, creating private photo albums for your family to view and contribute to, downloading an app such as BeReal which allows you to share what you're doing with your loved ones at a specific time or even hosting a games night over video call.
Another activity you might consider is sending presents back home for special occasions, utilising present delivery services local to your family or taking part in a gift box swap with family members. Whether its a surprise delivery or a planned one, receiving a gift from someone you love will always bring some joy into you life and can definitely lead to new memories forming. 

Having matching Christmas pyjamas with your family is also a great gift idea to help you staying connected. When it comes to the Christmas holiday, we usually think about a cozy vibe with family members gathering around. Whilst this may not be fully achievable with distance between you and your family, sharing certain elements of your Christmas celebration with each other for example through sending some summer Christmas pjs to your loved ones, might provide you with some form of connection to each other, you could even make it a daily thing to send pictures of yourself wearing your matching pjs to each other!

(Matching Christmas Pyjamas Australia)

 Schedule a time to do something together 

It may be difficult at the beginning to organise a time to call each other when you and your family are apart, in different time zones with different work and life activities. However, if you and you loved ones can plan in advance to arrange a time that suits both parties and lock it in, you will feel a sense of excitement and comfort, as you have something to look forward to with each other. Doing regular activities such as cooking, cleaning, or working out whilst on call to one another could strengthen your relationships with your family members and make you feel less lonely. 

 

Visit - try to meet in person occasionally 

Everything you do to staying connected with your family whilst apart is nothing when compared to actually travelling back home to see them in person after a long time. Although it may not be the most cost effective or easiest solution to maintaining strong connections it can be highly valuable to do so once in a while. Whilst you're home you will be able to spend incredible quality time with the people you love without being distracted by distance, it doesn't need to be a long stay but even a couple days to see the people closest to you can do wonders for your relationships. 
Alternatively, you could also ask your family to pay a visit to wherever you are. Chances are they would be excited at the prospect of a holiday and it's a great chance for you to feel like your family is a 'part' of your life overseas. Show them around you area, the places you visit often and your favourite parts of your life away, it'll make your conversations much easier after they leave, as they'll actually know what you're talking about! 

 

Surprise 

One of the more exciting things that you can do for your family to stay connected is to create a surprise. Send them something from wherever you are, use a flower delivery service to surprise them with flowers or a food delivery service to surprise them with dessert if you know they're at home. If you arrange for a food delivery to arrive whilst you're on a scheduled call with your family member, you'll get to see their genuine reaction when it arrives. But if you really want to surprise them,  you could even arrange a flight home without telling them, these are the kind of gestures that show your family how much you love and miss them, despite being away.  

 

(Thoughtful personalised gifts)

 

There's no doubt that remote relationships can be difficult to manage and maintaining strong connections with family and friends will be more challenging when you can't just turn up at their door for a coffee and a chat. 
Nevertheless, it's not impossible. These are just a few suggestions to help you staying connected with those you love. Just remember that everyone is different and every situation is unique, but if you stay confident, optimistic and patient ... you'll find a way to make it work. 

Find out more about our matching Christmas Pyjamas! For more ideas check out our Pinterest Page and our Blog for more inspiration!