How do you stay in touch?

[Lollypolly]

Thread about going "home" got me wondering .... how do you stay in touch with your friends and family overseas? We are as far as we could get from our families without starting to head back so going home is a once a year expedition with 2 small DDs. We call and skype and I keep a blog with photos and videos of the DDs so grandparents and aunties can keep up with what they're up to. I also send paintings, photos, copies of school reports and drawings back home a few times a year. What do you do?

We've only been overseas for 3 months, but I do pretty much the same as you - Skype, texting, very occasional phone calls, blog. I haven't thought of sending paintings etc. home but that's a great idea. The grandparents would probably appreciate them more than I do!

And we're not planning to go back to visit the UK until we've been here about 18 months. Far too expensive with a family of six (which we will be by then).

Were going home for our first trip in three years this summer (we live in British Columbia and it's just too expensive even though there are only four of us).

I have to admit I don't do any of those things! I post photos on Facebook when I'm in the mood, but otherwise I just phone my siblings and parents once a month or so. But then that's not so different from when we lived in the UK I guess, minus the meet ups. I'm sure my parents would love more - they get very excited when my children email them (which is rare I'm afriad to say)

Been abroad for 17 yrs. Mahoosive phone call with my Mum every Sunday afternoon, go home at Christmas and in the summer. Am lucky that I'm only in Italy and have Ryanair on my doorstep.
I actually see my Mum more than when I lived in Liverpool, then I would go home a couple of times a year for a weekend, now I go at Christmas for 3 weeks for example.

To be honest I'm happy just to have someone to offload all the "artwork" on to. Our DCs are 6 and 2 - DD2 was born overseas and they are at a stage when developmentally they are probably more interesting for grandparents than older kids would be ie first school, potty training, school trips, learning to swim etc. Also because they are so young, keeping in touch is very driven by me - when they're older, they'll have to be more proactive!

When we were in the UK, PILs were 3.5 hours by car (saw then every 6 weeks or so) and my Dad was a flight away (NE Scotland to SE England, saw him 4 or 5 times a year).

Email mainly, but now that we are living in Belgium, my parents come over regularly for the weekend.
DHs arrive tomorrow by air for four days. TBH, we've seen more of his since we moved abroad than we did when we were all in the UK.

FaceBook, Skype and phone calls mostly. I love FB as it makes it so easy to keep up with what all the family are up to, where as when I was in the UK I might never see some people from one year to the next.

My Aunt died last year and her funeral was sadly the cause of all the family being in one place at one time. I now keep in touch with all my cousins - something I never did since I was a child.