How are you keeping in touch with people back home?
Posted by Bioso@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 14 comments
Hi! I'm a Canadian who moved to Europe (first Austria and now France) and between time zones and busy schedules it's almost impossible to schedule a phone call with people back on the West Coast. A few friends and I started leaving long voice messages when we have time, it's like having a very long and drawn out conversation stretched over weeks. It's been kind of nice though, like our own private little podcasts.
I was wondering, is anyone else doing this? I know long voice messages are super divisive, people either absolutely hate them or love them.
If you hate them, how are you keeping in touch?
IMayBeOnlyOneMatch@reddit
Every two weeks, I have a Zoom call with my family. With the time differences, for my parents and niece it’s in the morning, for my brother, it’s lunchtime, and for me it’s right before dinner. We always know when the Zoom will happen. It’s great for all of us because everyone lives far away from each other.
With my best friend, we use FaceTime, and we schedule the next call before we hang up.
dereks63@reddit
My wife and I dated for 2 years with an 8hour time difference, we chatted on WhatsApp regularly, you make it work! Been married 16 years now
FinestTreesInDa7Seas@reddit
I'm in basically the same situation as you. I'm from Canada, I'm living in France, and my parents are on the west coast (Vancouver Island).
I usually call my parents between 5pm and 8pm CEST, which is early morning for them (they're old, so they're up at 5am usually).
It's harder to keep in touch with my friends. I don't get to join them on Discord for gaming as often as I'd like (their late evening hours don't line up well for me), but I have on occasion joined them at my 7am for a bit.
We have a big family group chat with my mother's entire extended family. I mostly keep in touch with them by sending them videos.
To answer your question, nobody in my family likes voice messages, so I don't bother sending them. Videos work much better. I usually record a video message when I'm out and about in Paris, usually to show them all something cool. I do it as a way to entice them to come visit.
Aggressive_Wait1733@reddit
No one is too busy to connect for 20 minutes with 9-12 hour time difference.
Primary_Luck6165@reddit
7hr Tim difference here. About 1.5 months ago I messaged sister1 to chat with her young kids. I asked several times and never got a response until I called her out in a group chat. Apparently she’s been too busy to even tell me she’s been too busy. Last week my family was together, including sister1, and my sister2 found 15 mins to call me so I could talk to the kids from sister1.
The statement is true. It’s a sad reality though.
Aggressive_Wait1733@reddit
That would cause a bit of hurt if you're really trying and want to. I'm sorry.
Cojemos@reddit
Has nothing to do with the process and everything to do with the person not that into you.
Africanmumble@reddit
We have a call scheduled around 10.30pm local (French) time daily for close family. Been doing this for 9 years with only a very few days missed.
Salt_Calendar2722@reddit
Honestly, that’s really sweet nine years of consistent calls says more about love and effort than huge friend groups ever could.
Cojemos@reddit
There's email, IG, What's App, Facetime and God forbid the horror of a phone call.
idranej@reddit
I’ve never had an issue with it. Morning there, after dinner for me… weekends if they work weekdays. No biggie.
great_damsel@reddit
The voice message thing actually makes sense for time zones that brutal, it's like you're both present in the conversation without needing to sync up at the exact same moment. People who hate them usually just don't want to listen to rambling, but if you and your friends are actually into it then you've basically solved the async communication problem. The people saying just schedule calls are missing that sometimes the window is too narrow or unpredictable when you're juggling jobs and life on opposite sides of the world.
LavaLampLogic@reddit
I use FaceTime and that works really well. Sure, the time difference sucks and the window of opportunity is not big, but I have no issues staying in touch.
seniorlaraveldev@reddit
Honestly, I book my time just as if I were to book my calender for a client. Just that it's to take time and call family. Otherwise, weeks and months go by without communication!