8 Creative Ways to Stay Connected with Family During Work Travel

Do you have to travel a lot for work? As a former military spouse, I have great insight on ways you can stay connected with your loved ones while traveling. Between training exercises that lasted months to year-long deployments, you get creative in how you show you care.

Many people have to travel for work: conferences, project management in other cities, etc. In today’s digital world texting and Skyping have replaced emails and letters as the main way families stay connected when one of the parents has to travel. But sometimes you want to do something more original or make an extra effort. Here are a few other creative ways from youngest audience to oldest:

1. Personalized Dolls / My husband went through his first year-long deployment when our son was just 1.5 years old. We worried about him remembering his father. Pictures are great, but you can’t hug a picture. That’s when I heard about a company that made dolls with a window to put a photo in, Huggs To Go. They were initially created for when families were parted because of hospital care, but quickly took off in the military community. Our son’s “Daddy Doll” became his prized possession. To this day I give these as gifts to any family members or friends having children who travel for work. They now have more variety in colors and patterns, plus even have ones that you can record your voice too.
2. Paper Chains / I had my husband write out messages for our son on precut pieces of colored construction paper for every day he would be gone (and a few extra that could be added just in case his time was extended). I then hung the chains around our son’s bedroom. It became part of his nightly bedtime routine to read “a message from Daddy” before he went to bed. Given the age of my son there wasn’t a lot of meaningful messages. It was more like “Do your happy dance” or “Give your mom a hug”. But it was a visual representation to our son of how much longer it would be before his father came home. Invaluable when his concept of time was sketchy beyond the word tomorrow! Depending on your child’s personality paper chains could work through the pre-teen years. Just adjust message content for age.
3. Kisses / A mug or jar filled with Hershey’s Kisses left the night before you leave. They get a “kiss” from you ever day. Super sweet, if not great for dentist office visits. This one works for either a child or significant other.
4. Clock / Although this is now easily accessible on an app, it’s still nice to have a visual representation of what time it is where your loved one is. Hang a clock at home with the time zone for the one traveling next to your regular clock. This is great for international travel, but still helpful for kids when their parents are just a couple time zones away.
5. Notes / This one works for children, significant others and the person traveling. Leave notes all over your home hidden to be found while you are gone. Places they’ll find right away like a backpack or under the dryer door. And places that won’t be found till they get out holiday decorations or seasonal items like lawn equipment. I even still like to do this for my husband when he travels. Although his are harder to put in places that he won’t find easily since I’m limited to his luggage.
6. Memory Jar / Each time something memorable happens, write it on a piece of paper with the date and put it in a jar. Kids often have really exciting news to share with the parent who is traveling and they aren’t always available to Skype or call when they want to share. Sometimes those moments get forgotten. A memory jar is a great collector. Also a fun family activity when no one is traveling. Do it for the whole year and review the moments to remember at Thanksgiving or New Year’s Eve.
7. Rabbit / What will they think of next? Using Rabbit you can now watch a movie or your favorite TV show together with someone no matter where they are. The possibilities are endless. A parent can see and hear their child explode with laughter at their favorite cartoon. A couple can watch a season finale of their favorite TV show.
8. Lock of Hair /This one is best for long separations with your spouse or significant other. There is a reason that a lock of hair was always considered a romantic gesture, hair holds scent well. I would cut a small lock of hair from the nap of my neck, wrap it with a small ribbon, and spray it with my favorite perfume. Placing it in a plastic bag helps hold the scent. How long my hair grew was also a symbol of how long we’d been apart.