5 Ways to Stay in Touch with Loved Ones

Whether you’re in college, living in a different city, or working a hectic schedule, keeping in touch with family isn't always easy. Fortunately, today there are more ways than ever to reach out to your family.

Call your family members and friends on the phone. Schedule a “phone date” with a designated day and time to talk if you have busy schedules. During the call, ask them how everything is going and try not to dominate the conversation by talking about yourself the whole time. Plan your next time to chat before you get off the phone with them.

Video chat with your everyone. Use FaceTime or Skype if your family and friends have access to them. Video chatting is the closest you can get to actually being with everyone, and your family members and friends will appreciate seeing your face.

Send text messages. Texting doesn’t require the scheduling or commitment that phone calls and video chats do. Send your family members and friends the occasional text message asking how they are and what they’ve been up to. Send picture messages of important things happening in your life, like pictures of your new house or your new pet.

Email your family members and friends. Send periodic group emails to everyone so they know how you’re doing. Use email to send large-sized videos and photo albums that are too big to text.

Communicate through social media. Sign them up for Facebook or Instagram for example,if they don’t have an account already. Check their profiles every so often to see if they’ve uploaded any new photos or posted status updates. Comment on their posts and tag them in things you think they’d find interesting.