Will I Miss My Friends & Family Too Much If I Move Abroad? Let’s Go There
How do digital nomads stay connected with family while living abroad? Honest advice on long-distance relationships, travel, and staying close across continents.
I’ve fielded a lot of questions over the years from people who are dreaming about life abroad. Sometimes it’s about money. Sometimes it’s about visas.
But more often, it’s about the people we love.
When my own kids were younger, friends and relatives would look at my solo travels and ask, sometimes with genuine curiosity and sometimes with a little disbelief:
“How does that even work when you have a family?”
The assumption is that distance breaks those bonds. That once you leave, you’re somehow stepping away from the relationships that matter most.
But that hasn’t been my experience. Not at all.
Here’s the message that prompted this week’s reflection, from a reader in the Philippines:
“I’m moving abroad to another continent with my partner and I’m curious how you make nomad life work with family. It’s a scary jump for me to suddenly live on the other side of the world.”
Ready? Let’s go there.
Let’s Go There is a candid, question-led column where we unpack the real stuff behind remote work, solo travel, and midlife reinvention. No filters… just honest answers to the questions you’ve been carrying around.
First, let’s acknowledge that the fear is totally valid.
It is a scary jump.
Moving across the world means the distance is real, and the fear you’re feeling is actually a really good sign. It means you have people in your life worth missing… and not everyone gets that.
When you move far away, something interesting happens. You discover that missing people is part of loving them. It’s the cost of building a life that’s bigger than your hometown.
That’s the part people often gloss over when they talk about travel and freedom. Loving your family and wanting to see the world can coexist, but sometimes they pull you in opposite directions.
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You won’t be able to pop over for dinner or show up for every birthday. And yes, sometimes that distance hurts a little.
But it’s also nice to be missed.
When you live nearby, it’s easy for relationships to drift into convenience. You see each other because it’s easy. You assume there will always be another dinner, another holiday, another random Tuesday to catch up.
Distance changes that.
Suddenly when you call, people actually stop what they’re doing to talk to you. When you visit, it’s not just another weekend—it’s an event. People make time. They plan meals. They want to hear your stories.
Here’s another perspective shift we maybe don’t talk about enough…
Your world expanding doesn’t have to shrink your relationships.
If anything, it can make them richer.
You bring new stories back. New perspectives. Different ways of seeing things.
You become the person who sends photos from a street market halfway across the world, or who introduces the family to foods they’ve never heard of before.
You’re still part of their lives; you’re just adding new chapters. Your interactions gain a richness and depth.
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Now, practically speaking, technology helps. Video calls, messages, the occasional postcard… those things matter.
But what really keeps relationships strong isn’t the tools. It’s showing up intentionally.
That means checking in, making the call, sending an email to share the little moments, not just the big news.
Over time, you also develop little rituals that help close the distance. A regular Sunday video call. Sending photos from the café where you’re working that day. Mailing postcards from new cities. Organizing a virtual games night or a watch party.
None of these things replace being there in person, of course. But they create threads of connection that stretch across the miles.
Moving across the world doesn’t mean leaving your family behind. It just means the love between you has to travel a little farther.
And interestingly, distance has a way of sharpening things.
Conversations get more intentional. Visits become events instead of obligations. You stop taking the people in your life for granted, because you can’t rely on convenience anymore.
You call because you want to hear their voice.
They call because they want to know how you’re really doing.
And when you do see each other again — maybe at an airport arrivals gate, or around a familiar kitchen table — it feels a little bit electric. Like you’re remembering something important about each other.
So yes, the miles are real. But so is the connection.
And the people who matter most tend to prove, again and again, that love travels remarkably well.
✌🏻 Miranda
P.S. Have a burning question about remote work or nomad life, particularly in your 40s and beyond? Submit to hello@midlifenomads.com and I’ll do my best.
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