Short flights can be great for catching up with friends and family, but sometimes even in that scenario you may have to wait a year or more to go and visit loved ones for any number of reasons. Then, back when the UK was still in the EU, you even had people commuting from London to Paris via Eurostar - it really was a completely different world but with more opportunities for connection.
Yeah, unfortunately you have to prioritize. Within Europe it is fortunately easy to visit a lot of places with short flights. I try to not think too much about it and visit friends even on short notice. But as you say, it might be that there is a big gap between the visits.
Great read! I liked the distinction based on relative proximity. And it is relative as you correctly pointed out that it depends on each person's means. Hoping on a plane with 1 day's notice could be affordable for some people and not for others, similarly I bet Elon Musk could cut down your 48 hours between Colorado and Greece to something like 14. So relative proximity as the metric of choice is spot on.
I also think that this metrics is interesting because it shows your "greekness" in a way. We Greeks are very family oriented and are making life choices based on our ability to be there for our parents when they get older. Without explicitly saying it, I could sense your anxiousness for being able to be where you needed to be to support your loved ones as fast as possible. It also goes to show the balancing act between leading our best life and being there just in case for our people.
Keep it up, let's get some tsipouro and explore the meaning of life by the beach soon1
Thanks Dimi! I will adopt the "greekness" term from now on😋.
It is true that it is a topic that Ii think about a lot. And like you say,it is a balancing act. You can move back home, but does that make sense for either part if you are not happy there?
These are questions above my paygrade, so I don't have a concrete answer to give. However, I am planning to write about this soon, so I would love to hear your thoughts again on the topic!
You've defined some of the challenges of living far away well. These factors are certainly a big reason why more people don't live far away from home, but don't need to be deal breakers imo! Ultimately the bottom line is weighing the pros and cons of logistics which is why it's great to see your approach in defining the logistics more clearly.
Time difference:
I do think it largely depends on the direction of time difference. For me, I'm 9 hours ahead of my friends and family, the inverse of what you experienced in the US. So I get to catch up with everyone after work, and because my parents and retired and my brother works from home, it's quite easy for us to chat in my evenings, their mornings. With my friends, we often send voice notes which allow us to listen and respond at our own convenience and is a great way of staying in touch.
Long Flight:
The long flight itself bothers me in that it's an exhausting trip, but every time I visit home I have minimum 2 weeks of deep quality time with my friends and family. I love that we get a dedicated block of time and it feels like we take advantage of it more. I'm fortunate that I work remote so I don't have to take time off. If I had to take time off I might feel differently about this bucket.
You 're right about the direction of time difference. I was also working from home some days per week while in the US, but it was still difficult to spend my most productive hours talking on the phone. Somehow it completely put me off my rhythm, and I always need a long break to focus again. I am surprised your brother can do it easily.
About the flight, I guess working from anywhere makes a big difference. Ofc you cannot be there immediately in case of an emergency, but at least you can be there often.
Since you are doing it this for some time, have you noticed any other difficulties, with your family being oversees?
Honestly you hit the main points! I've been sitting here thinking if anything else comes to mind but it's really just what you said plus the physical distance itself. But I legitimately feel like with technology we're so connected anyway between Whatsapp, iMessage, FaceTime...
Ultimately I feel the most important thing is being happy where you are, being grounded in that lightens the effect of the challenges. Challenges are not something I actively think about because Sevilla feels so much like home to me now!
It is great that you also call Sevilla "home". Ultimately, that is the best possible outcome when you move to a new place.
You 're right that it doesnt make sense to think about challenges all the time. And I also try not to. But this one in particular comes to mind once in a while.
With my level 3 arrangement, time difference is the biggest issue. It's not impossible to find the time to keep up with everyone back home (yep, same definition here!) because when I finish work people are waking up, so we have an hour where we're all awake and not at work. But mornings are busy, and while I would love to be spontaneous and start a cheeky video-call with my friends because I am just walking down the street, they are busy getting kids ready or walking into their offices. It's spontaneity I miss.
Yeah, I wish I had a good advice to give, but I also did not manage to figure this out. Have you maybe tried out different approaches during the time you live at a level 3 distance? Like have a shared calendar to schedule calls, or regular online meetings? It is not exactly spontaneous, but at least you do not lose touch completely.
We got delayed chats. Sometimes I wake up to 40 messages and it's just the gang arranging to meet for a pizza on the other side of the world. Better than nothing! But yours is a pretty good idea
Delayed chat sound like an option. Now that I think about it, snail mail would also be nice. It has a certain charm to it. I guess I am also biased, because I really like sending postcards (as you might already know 😅 )
Short flights can be great for catching up with friends and family, but sometimes even in that scenario you may have to wait a year or more to go and visit loved ones for any number of reasons. Then, back when the UK was still in the EU, you even had people commuting from London to Paris via Eurostar - it really was a completely different world but with more opportunities for connection.
Yeah, unfortunately you have to prioritize. Within Europe it is fortunately easy to visit a lot of places with short flights. I try to not think too much about it and visit friends even on short notice. But as you say, it might be that there is a big gap between the visits.
Great read! I liked the distinction based on relative proximity. And it is relative as you correctly pointed out that it depends on each person's means. Hoping on a plane with 1 day's notice could be affordable for some people and not for others, similarly I bet Elon Musk could cut down your 48 hours between Colorado and Greece to something like 14. So relative proximity as the metric of choice is spot on.
I also think that this metrics is interesting because it shows your "greekness" in a way. We Greeks are very family oriented and are making life choices based on our ability to be there for our parents when they get older. Without explicitly saying it, I could sense your anxiousness for being able to be where you needed to be to support your loved ones as fast as possible. It also goes to show the balancing act between leading our best life and being there just in case for our people.
Keep it up, let's get some tsipouro and explore the meaning of life by the beach soon1
Thanks Dimi! I will adopt the "greekness" term from now on😋.
It is true that it is a topic that Ii think about a lot. And like you say,it is a balancing act. You can move back home, but does that make sense for either part if you are not happy there?
These are questions above my paygrade, so I don't have a concrete answer to give. However, I am planning to write about this soon, so I would love to hear your thoughts again on the topic!
You've defined some of the challenges of living far away well. These factors are certainly a big reason why more people don't live far away from home, but don't need to be deal breakers imo! Ultimately the bottom line is weighing the pros and cons of logistics which is why it's great to see your approach in defining the logistics more clearly.
Time difference:
I do think it largely depends on the direction of time difference. For me, I'm 9 hours ahead of my friends and family, the inverse of what you experienced in the US. So I get to catch up with everyone after work, and because my parents and retired and my brother works from home, it's quite easy for us to chat in my evenings, their mornings. With my friends, we often send voice notes which allow us to listen and respond at our own convenience and is a great way of staying in touch.
Long Flight:
The long flight itself bothers me in that it's an exhausting trip, but every time I visit home I have minimum 2 weeks of deep quality time with my friends and family. I love that we get a dedicated block of time and it feels like we take advantage of it more. I'm fortunate that I work remote so I don't have to take time off. If I had to take time off I might feel differently about this bucket.
You 're right about the direction of time difference. I was also working from home some days per week while in the US, but it was still difficult to spend my most productive hours talking on the phone. Somehow it completely put me off my rhythm, and I always need a long break to focus again. I am surprised your brother can do it easily.
About the flight, I guess working from anywhere makes a big difference. Ofc you cannot be there immediately in case of an emergency, but at least you can be there often.
Since you are doing it this for some time, have you noticed any other difficulties, with your family being oversees?
Honestly you hit the main points! I've been sitting here thinking if anything else comes to mind but it's really just what you said plus the physical distance itself. But I legitimately feel like with technology we're so connected anyway between Whatsapp, iMessage, FaceTime...
Ultimately I feel the most important thing is being happy where you are, being grounded in that lightens the effect of the challenges. Challenges are not something I actively think about because Sevilla feels so much like home to me now!
It is great that you also call Sevilla "home". Ultimately, that is the best possible outcome when you move to a new place.
You 're right that it doesnt make sense to think about challenges all the time. And I also try not to. But this one in particular comes to mind once in a while.
For sure, I think it's great you've clearly defining the challenges! Absolutely important to consider before moving abroad.
With my level 3 arrangement, time difference is the biggest issue. It's not impossible to find the time to keep up with everyone back home (yep, same definition here!) because when I finish work people are waking up, so we have an hour where we're all awake and not at work. But mornings are busy, and while I would love to be spontaneous and start a cheeky video-call with my friends because I am just walking down the street, they are busy getting kids ready or walking into their offices. It's spontaneity I miss.
Yeah, I wish I had a good advice to give, but I also did not manage to figure this out. Have you maybe tried out different approaches during the time you live at a level 3 distance? Like have a shared calendar to schedule calls, or regular online meetings? It is not exactly spontaneous, but at least you do not lose touch completely.
We got delayed chats. Sometimes I wake up to 40 messages and it's just the gang arranging to meet for a pizza on the other side of the world. Better than nothing! But yours is a pretty good idea
Delayed chat sound like an option. Now that I think about it, snail mail would also be nice. It has a certain charm to it. I guess I am also biased, because I really like sending postcards (as you might already know 😅 )