So far away and yet so close...

My mum immigrated to Indonesia 60 years ago. It took over a month on a boat and she knew she wouldn't see or hear her sisters who stayed behind for their education for years.
Phone calls were way too expensive and letters took over 6 weeks to reach the recipient. The news was never new. Immigration was forever and life changing.

In the eighties, my parents in law immigrated to New Zealand. They took a plane. It took two days. Phone calls were expensive so only short calls were affordable. Sending letters took two weeks!

Almost 9 years ago I immigrated to New Zealand. It took a day on an airplane. And although still life changing I think we can adapt so much easier and make the transition so much quicker because of Social Media and all the technology that is available to us.

I talk to my family for free over the internet. I make sure they don't miss a single thing from my kid's lives. I send photos/ videos and a short message the moment something fun happens (or something sad).

I talk to my mum more often now then I did when I still lived in Holland.

Because of the time difference friends that are going through a hard time have no problem apping me in the middle of the night. I can respond within a second.

If I want to send a postcard I log on to a Dutch website and send a real life card which arrives within 12 hours (because of the time difference). My friends are often stunned about that. In the same way, I arrange presents to be delivered to their door.

Source of images:
http://www.seadogs-reunited.com/Himalaya.htm
http://tonymadgehjg.proboards.com/thread/7426/air-new-zealand-dc10-digest
https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/23/whatsapp-debuts-an-official-android-beta-testing-program/