Staying In Touch While Traveling

Staying in touch with family and friends while traveling can be quite a challenge but today’s technology makes it easier than ever before. It pulls at my heartstrings every time I talk to my niece and nephew and they ask me when I’m coming to visit. Luckily apps like FaceTime and Skype make communicating much more convenient than it used to be. This New Year’s I did FaceTime with the family and my niece asked me where I was watching fireworks. I told her I was in Thailand and she said, “oh, you’re at your house?” She’s at that age where she understands that I travel for work, but because I have been in Thailand so much lately, she’s starting to think that’s where I live. While the distance is great, I still get to see her and her brothers every week and that’s huge!

Having a device like an iPhone, iPad or tablet can make it very easy to stay in touch. They’re very light weight and easy to travel with and you can connect with Skype or FaceTime over Wifi while avoiding international calling charges. Recently, I’ve added google+ hangouts to my list of tools to keep in touch. You can have multiple people in the chatroom and everyone can see each other

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Scoot & Doodle uses google+ Hangouts to power its tool that allows families to gather, play games, chat and even collaborate on family projects – planning that family reunion will be a snap!

In addition to apps that allow you to talk with loved ones, there are also apps that allow you to interact with each other. Toontastic Jr Pirates is an app that allows you to create cartoons, animate them and add your voice to the story. You can connect with your friends, or family, through the app’s StoryShare feature and create, talk and share in real-time via the internet. It’s like an online toy box!

Keeping in touch doesn’t mean the traditional phone call anymore. Pick up your iPad, iPhone, tablet or even your computer and reach out in creative ways – it’s much more fun!