Missing Family Birthdays

I thought I'd defer from my usual ramblings today to discuss something that all long-term travellers will feel at some time. No, I'm not talking about homesickness per-se. I'm talking about missing important events back home.

For me, the most important (personal) events I've missed have been my parents' birthdays. Before I arrive home, I will also miss my younger sisters birthday. This year was a particularly important birthday for my Mum (I won't mention which one here!), and it felt strange not being able to celebrate with them at home.

Granted, we tend not to have large birthday celebrations (except for me!), so I didn't miss a huge party or anything, but the concept behind it is more important.

The more you miss, the further you feel from those you left behind. There is always the ability to phone, and MSN and Skype help a lot in keeping the links strong, however they don't compare to actually being there.

I dunno ... this is one of those "hmmm" posts that don't really lead anywhere, but I felt it important to include these sorts of ramblings (some might say musings!) here as well as the usual pragmatic stuff.