Keeping in Touch on the Cheap

A few decades ago, if you went overseas then it would cost you a fortune to stay in touch with friends and family overseas. Thankfully times have changed and it’s easier than ever to keep your friends and family up-to-date with your adventures. There are lots of options, from email, free calling apps or even international texting. That means no matter your time zone or where you are, you can let those you care about know you’re thinking of them. Teaching a long distance class? You might want to hire a webinar service provider. Here are my suggestions for keeping in touch on the cheap:

Find a Free Calling App

The best thing about a free calling app is, well, it’s FREE! That’s a huge improvement from the outrageous prices international calls used to set you back before the Internet changed everything. You can use free calling apps on your smartphone, computer, laptop or tablet – whatever works for you. This means they’re super flexible and easy to use.

Consider International Texting:

One of the easiest ways to stay in touch overseas is actually by way of international text, because you can reply whenever works for you, which is helpful if you’re messaging someone in a completely different time zone. There’s nothing worse than waking up to a bunch of missed calls, but with texting you don’t have to worry about missing each other.

Good Old Email:

Much faster than traditional mail (and cheaper too), email is a great way to keep in touch. While texting is fast and instant, it’s brief. Email can be really interesting if you take some time to add some photos of where you are, what you’ve been up to and how you’re doing. As they say, a picture can speak a thousand words – so brighten up the email with photos and you can easily keep your family updated.

Traditional Mail:

This might seem like a bit of a backwards way to communicate because it’s so much slower compared to our “instant” forms of communication, but there’s nothing more special than checking your mail box and seeing some mail that’s not a bill. You can send photos, bits and pieces you’ve collected on your travel, postcards or even just a nice handwritten letter. This is a great option for anyone, especially younger members of your family as they’ll be excited by the novelty of a letter.

Don’t let distance get in the way of staying in touch with those who matter to you.