Thank you to Yahoo! Mail for sponsoring this post about staying connected. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
It wasn’t just the fact that I was outside of Canada on my own (with Greg) for an extended period of time that made the trip to India, Paris and London so memorable, but the fact that my mom and brother kept in touch with me via email throughout the entire trip.
Five years prior to that trip, I’d stayed with relatives in the UK for 1.5 months. The difference is, when I went to India, we weren’t in one place longer than a few days, so phoning or sending mail wouldn’t have worked well. Clearly, email was the way to go! A long-time advocate for keeping in touch with friends overseas and in other countries via penpal letters in the mail, this trip to India marked the first real time I kept in contact with friends and family via email.
”
In every town or city we went to, we looked out for the little internet cafés with friendly people to log your time at the front door, and old, slow computers lined against grotty walls. Sometimes it felt like it would be forever until my travel tales and messages of love would be sent but, Yahoo! always came through, and I could always rest assured that my emails would be successfully sent.
The travel tales kept flowing as we made our way from place to place, made easier because we emailed ourselves itineraries. In India, where (at the time) people didn’t have their own internet connections/computers, the dingy internet cafés were on every street, even in the tiniest of villages. People we met along the trip kept in contact with us, suggesting places for us to next visit.
I really loved hearing all the news from home during the almost 6 month trip we took overseas. Keeping in touch with people back home while on a trip makes you see them in a different light. I got to really connect with my mom via email, compared to the short conversations we had on the phone or in person while in the same city. Email is also a great way to capture the memories—I look back on the emails I sent to my mom from 2003/2004 from our trip and am instantly transported to that place.
Do you keep in touch with your friends and family when you’re on vacation?
When I travel, I've used a combination of email, phone, and good old fashioned post cards to stay in touch!
My recent post Friends With Benefits Soundtrack Giveaway – Ends 08/02
We're so lucky to have the internet and cell phones. I just commented in a post that even driving a few hours away was the same as being in another country.. once we were out of area code, we were out of touch!
I'm glad you had a nice trip!
My recent post aWareAbouts – Keeps Kids Safe While Preserving Trust
I love the pics! Looks like it was very beautiful!
My recent post Back to School: Kids-EEZE & Cold-EEZE Review