While many people here in the United States are set to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, most of them will be traveling with their family or friends.
But maybe you have an upcoming business trip that will keep you away from your loved ones. How do you stay in touch with your spouse and children while traveling?
It is important that your children know they are still on your mind and close to your heart even though you cannot be there with them. Likewise, your spouse may need a little attention as well as they keep things running in your absence.
Here are five tips to stay in touch with your family while traveling:
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Send a letter.While on the airplane to your destination, take a few minutes to write a short letter to each of your children and your spouse. Once you check into your hotel, drop the letters in the mail and they will receive a nice surprise in a day or two.
Kids love to receive something in the mail. It makes them feel special and when they realize it is a special note from you, they will know that you are thinking about them.
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Call home regularly. When I travel, I will usually call home once in the morning and once in the evening. It is nice to call in the morning so you can wish everyone a good day at work or school. The evening call is nice as it allows you to touch base on the happenings of the day and to tell everyone you love them before bed.
As a benefit to your spouse at home, you might find it best to call around dinner time as opposed to bed time. When I would call close to bed time, my kids would get so excited about talking to me on the phone that my wife would then have a hard time settling them down for bed.
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Email a daily photo. As a business traveler, you may visit destinations that your children have only heard about but never seen. Try to take a picture of something interesting where you are and send that to them each day.
If possible, try to snap one or two goofy pictures of yourself in front of a local landmark or place of interest to give everyone at home a good laugh.
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Have your kids write a report or story. As a way to involve your children in your travel, ask them to write a short report or story about the city that you are visiting.
An interesting way to tie activities together is to send them a daily photo of something from your destination and have them prepare a few sentences to tell you about the photo when you call them that night or when you return home.
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Leave a hidden treasure. Before you leave on your trip, hide a special note or a small gift in the house and then send a daily clue to help them find the treasure.
They will look forward to receiving the next clue and will be so occupied looking for the treasure that you will be back home before they have a chance to miss you.
Business travel can be stressful for everyone involved, which is why it is fun to try and find activities such as these to keep everyone connected.
Through regular contact, everyone at home will know that they are still on your mind and special to you even though you are not there. In addition, interacting with those at home will help you when you find yourself missing everyone. As much as my wife thinks business trips are all fun and games, it can get lonely when you are away from everyone.
How do you stay in touch while traveling?
Photo credit: a_kartha
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There was in inspirational speaker I heard this past summer. A father of 7, and an international traveller. He would sometimes leave before everyone was awake. He leaves big X’s and O’s written on the hands of his kids. A Hug and a Kiss from dad before he left on business. As the kids got older they would take a pic showing off the marks their dad left them - pretty cool
Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
www.bestwellnessconsultant.com