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| Jake & I in Ibiza, 2010 |
When I first moved abroad to Barcelona in 2009, I knew that I would be losing touch with a lot of people. Months later, I learned that living a continent and a time difference away sort of weeds out the fru-fru friendships in your life. You know, the acquaintances that aren't really REAL friends, the ones that you wouldn't call if you had a bad day or if you got in a fight with your boyfriend.
At first I hated this, and tried hard to keep up with as many people as possible, hoping they wouldn't forget about me while I was living a world away. Now, overtime, I see that the shifts in my friendships have been such a blessing. Four years later, I know that the friends I still chat with throughout the day today via email, WhatsApp, etc. are the real deal friends; they are the ones that matter, they are the ones that will be forever friends, no matter where life takes us or lands us on our ever shrinking planet.
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| Julia & I in the DR last week |
To maintain a long-distance friendship requires work, yes, but thanks to technology, we as expats have life way easier than the ones even just 20 years ago did! Sure, the post worked fine back then, but today I couldn't imagine keeping up without Skype, email, WhatsApp, even Instagram and Twitter.
So today I say
viva la tecnología! Although being far from home isn't always a piece of cake, we are so fortunate to be living our expat lives during this period in time. Until 20 years from now.. When Blogger will be obsolete and we'll look back and think the same thing!
This is my first link-up.
Stopping by from The Expat Diaries!
ReplyDeleteHubby and I have been in Peru for 3.5 years now. I was the same...I tried to hold on to EVERY friendship, but eventually it became very clear those who were willing to remain friends over the distance and those who wanted an "easy" friendship...I have become much closer to those who have mutually stayed in touch!
and Im pretty sure every single day I say Thank God for technology!
Long distance friendships definitely require work! But you are right, technology makes it a lot easier!
ReplyDeleteSooo true! I'm going through this exact situation now and I'm not even that far. I moved to NYC 2 years ago from DC (4 hours away) and have recently come to the conclusion that some of the friends I had in DC weren't/aren't my REAL friends. Kinda sad, but I do feel sooo much better knowing who my real friends are now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up! Living far from friends and family can be so hard, thank goodness for technology!!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I have weeded out some friends too but for me it's ppl who moved back to their home states after college, much less a different continent! That's when you know it doesn't mean much to the other person! Love this post bc it's most people's reality.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne
It's so true!!! Thank goodness for technology!
ReplyDeleteThanks to share this information.It's too informative.
ReplyDeleteLong Distance Moving Service
I have two long distance friendships and I know what you mean.
ReplyDeleteI miss my girls.
I so agree with this post. When I moved to Scotland, some friends made an attempt to stay in touch and others didn't. For the first 6 months it was difficult to communicate because Skype would never work, our MagicJack was usually turned off (oops), and the stupid chips in our cell phones would run out of money quickly, but then we found out that B's company would pay for a landline with international calling. If they would have told us this when we first moved, our lives abroad would have been so much better! Haha.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love WhatsApp. :)