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KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH THOSE THAT MISS YOU

There are so many great things about being an expat but one of the biggest challenges many of us face when living abroad is keeping in touch with all of our friends and family members at home, or around the world.

We all have our reasons for choosing to live in a country away from home. It could have been the weather, a career choice, heartstrings pulled or waking up one grey morning and deciding to just do it.

Whatever the original reason for our move, we are the lucky ones - we didn't talk about it, we actually did it. Experiencing new cultures, new perspectives, new sights, new sounds, new smells and that magnificent bread the local bakery makes.

But "home is where the heart is", and for all the reason's we may have left, we still miss it. In our hearts, we miss a good strong cup of tea, a night at the pub, fish and chips, and maybe even dare I say it, rain that you can depend upon!

But most of us will admit (and the surveys tend to back us up) what we miss most is regular communication with our family and friends.

We are lucky to live in the "low-cost airline, be back in a few hours" generation but trips are never long enough and we don't really catch up with everyone. They all want to hear our stories - the exotic as well as the more everyday parts of our lives. They want to share our excitement, learn from us, but mostly stay close to us.

But time is our most precious commodity. We are time starved and busy, creating a life in a foreign land and, while we want to keep in touch with everyone back home, there are only so many hours in a day, so many days in a week.

Luckily we live in an ever-changing, technological world. Today we can create websites that all of your friends and family can access to see your most recent photos and stories. What's more they can leave messages on the site's guestbook for you.

Your loved ones miss you and while nothing beats a hug, keeping them up to date with your adventures about your life abroad is the next best thing until that next big hug!

By Duncan Perkinson

Duncan is the founder of Our Expat Story and creates personal websites for expats who want to keep in close touch with friends and family back home, but don't have the time or the expertise to create a site. Visit the site at www.OurExpatStory.com for more information

Posted 12JUL07