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| Me with friends in the Philippines |
So it's probably no surprise that I lost track of my friends. A lot of important friends. I felt incredibly sad about that once I reached my mid-twenties and realized I couldn't go back and undo my error.
Two good things have happened since I made that mistake so long ago:
- I learned from my mistake.
- Modern technologies like email, Facebook, and Twitter evolved, which makes staying in touch easy.
So here's today's travel tip: Stay in touch with people you meet when you travel. Carry simple business cards with your email address, Twitter handle, Facebook info. etc. Hand them out to new friends and ask for their card.
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| L-R: Me, Mokhtar, my husband (in Morocco) |
I did this while in Morocco and I'm happily still in touch with the man who indirectly helped name our daughter. Last week, I received an email from friends we made in Sicily last summer. I try to keep in touch with new friends via email or Facebook (most aren't on Twitter, yet), even if only sporadically. These are people who have enriched my life in one way or another. Seeing their status updates and exchanging private messages makes me happy. Plus, if they ever travel to my part of the world, I want to be able to reciprocate their hospitality. And, if I'm ever back in their part of the world, I want to have a friend I can visit or share meal with.
It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life and let those relationships fall away. Please take the time to nurture them, even if it's just enough that you can still call them friendships. It will enrich your life and the lives of your children or students.
If your friends have children, you could also encourage your children to be "Pen Pals" or "email pals," or "Skype buddies."
When my son was five and Skyped with our friend's 5 year-old in India, their exchanges weren't particularly engaging to the adults nearby. They went something like this:
My son, holding up a new toy tractor: "Look, my John Deere."
Our friend's son, "Look, train."
This continued until they exhausted their show of toys. When they saw each other again last year, however, they instantly played like old buddies. I'm confident the few Skype visits since they first met in 2008 helped nurture their friendship.
If your friends have children, you could also encourage your children to be "Pen Pals" or "email pals," or "Skype buddies."
When my son was five and Skyped with our friend's 5 year-old in India, their exchanges weren't particularly engaging to the adults nearby. They went something like this:
My son, holding up a new toy tractor: "Look, my John Deere."
Our friend's son, "Look, train."
This continued until they exhausted their show of toys. When they saw each other again last year, however, they instantly played like old buddies. I'm confident the few Skype visits since they first met in 2008 helped nurture their friendship.
What special friendships have you made while traveling? How do you maintain them?
As someone who has lived and worked on several continents and like you, due to SLOW snail mail lost contact with many, Face Book has been a real godsend!
ReplyDeleteSo true, Joanna! In the interest of brevity, I left that part out of my story, but I have happily reconnected with many of my friends from the Philippines on Facebook. I love seeing their status updates and exchanging personal messages.
DeleteOh! I hopped over here from the comment challenge, and what a surprise! My son is an exchange student in the Philippines right now! The main way we hear from him is Facebook, since he is notoriously bad at e mailing. How funny. Small world.
ReplyDeleteOh, hello Ms. Yingling! You may not remember me, but I think we "met" on Paula Yoo's blog the first year she did NaPiBoWriWee! (When was that? 5 years ago?) I didn't have a blog then, so my comments were minimal.
DeleteHow cool that we have such a connection! What part of the Philippines is he in? Is he a Rotary Exchange student?
Ms. Yingling,
DeleteI should have mentioned... these posts may interest you. They're about my experiences in the Philippines.
http://michellecusolito.blogspot.com/2011/11/travel-tuesdays-exchange-students.html
http://michellecusolito.blogspot.com/2011/11/travel-tuesdays-philippines-growing-up.html