Life in Spain: How to keep in touch while living abroad
Much of our life in Spain is a dream come true. We're more or less settled into our routines as they will be for the next 6 months, but we are starting to realize that staying connected with friends and family is a new priority with a few major hurdles.
#1 The time difference: 7 hours is a crazy time difference, but we've adjusted more or less. It is still hard to think that I am closing out my day as most of my friends and family are just getting into work. Even social media feels different realizing that we're either a bit ahead or way behind.
After only a few months, we are definitely missing familiar faces and people we'd see regularly. My nieces are two people who I catch myself thinking about as they start Kindergarten and Pre-K this year. Shoutout to Ava Marie who just turned 6 yesterday. Audrey's family is so tightly knit that it feels weird to not see her parents at least once a week. Shout out to Ron and Karen for coming to spend Thanksgiving with us here in Spain and treating to some quality time in Copenhagen.
Missing family traditions is by far one of the hardest parts of living abroad. As we get deeper into the holiday season, reconnecting becomes more important than ever. So here are a few tips on how to stay connected:
This is a free way for us to text or video call whether you have and iPhone or not. We already have a few group chats going with family and using WIFI is cheaper than using cell data. Download WHATSAPP and add phone numbers from your contacts. Email us to get additional contact info. dietrich.hunter@gmail.com // audreyleehickman@gmail.com
2 - Zoom
For Group calls and other shenanigans we can schedule a time here that works for us to get together. We can catch, give a little tour of our space, and maybe get into a few rounds of online games like Spyfall or or Skribbl (online pictionary)
3 - Message, Email, or International Snail Mail
Getting letters here might prove to be pretty expensive. Since we won't make it home for Christmas holiday cards and other updates might be something we receive here eventually. For safety we want to keep that our address mildly private so reach out if you'd like our address here in Madrid.
We are both rebooting our podcasts along with this blog in 2022. Please keep an eye out for updates wherever we naturally and normally connect. I'll be adding and subtracting ways to connect and share on the socials until we see what sticks. Either way, please subscribe to the shows below and this page if you haven't already. These are not only our passions projects, they're a window into our incredible experiences.
The seven-hour difference makes a scheduled Zoom game night feel much more practical than trying to catch everyone online at random. I like your idea of a few rounds of Skribbl with family, especially with nieces who can draw along. If you want custom picture prompts tied to memories of Spain, simple pixel characters made with SpriteFuse could help the adults prepare a small theme while everyone still draws their own clues.
The seven-hour difference makes a scheduled Zoom game night feel much more practical than trying to catch everyone online at random. I like your idea of a few rounds of Skribbl with family, especially with nieces who can draw along. If you want custom picture prompts tied to memories of Spain, simple pixel characters made with SpriteFuse could help the adults prepare a small theme while everyone still draws their own clues.
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