Sending Gifts Back Home while Living Abroad
Kelley Ridings
?Empowering Educators Globally with Innovative Solutions in School Job Searches & Hiring ? K-12 International Education & Leadership Expert ? Author: The GIFT Hiring Method & Teach or Lead Abroad
With Christmas and the holiday season around the corner, gift-giving may be on your mind. It was on mine, for sure.? Yet, indeed, when we live the expat life, recognizing others on special holidays and birthdays can be a bit of a challenge.
Online shopping is one way to do it, but it isn’t always easy. I find the delivery of what I order to be iffy and unpredictable. Sometimes, the order disappears or is delayed. When the order doesn’t go through, it’s a pain to sort out from abroad—including battling different time zones and cut-off calls. However, most still arrive correctly, albeit not always in the timely way I would prefer.
Sending gifts or gift cards through delivery feels impersonal to my style, but I try to make it as special as I can since there is no alternative. The longer I am away, the less connected I am to the US holidays, so gifting at those times isn’t always at the top of my mind. I have instead adopted the example of a dear friend of mine who gives gifts randomly throughout the year. That way, she doesn’t feel as much of an obligation when birthdays or Christmas rolls around, and she inadvertently forgets to give one. I like that approach.
My preference is that upon my return home for annual visits, I bring a lot of gifts – on my recent trip home, I had two suitcases of gifts. I have long preferred to gift shop all year long. So, before my travels back home, it’s easy to collect it together for each person in individually marked bags that I pack into my luggage and efficiently deliver in person when I see them. I enjoy that, and I think people like the personal gifts as well. It also makes it easier for me because I can buy things all year long when I see something special, particularly when traveling. So, there are many places to choose from, both online and in-person.
Enjoy the season!
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Copyright 2024 by Kelley Ridings
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2 个月Kelley Ridings, the information you shared in your posts/articles is a great gift for all of us, offering valuable insights and inspiration that truly make a difference. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge and perspective! ?? Avery merry X-mass and Happy New Year to you and your beloved ones ??
Foreign Principal at Shanghai Hongrun Boyuan School
2 个月I’m more of a gift-bringer, too, though when COVID meant I couldn’t get back for quite a stretch, I started sending gifts, and I always tried to find local shops or businesses, those close to where my loved ones live. I found that the small, independent wine shop, book store, chocolate maker, etc, were happy to help. While likely a bit more expensive than Amazon or some other big website would have been, and requiring a bit more time spent on Google, it felt much more personal and they would even offer suggestions, etc, and were generally quite responsive to email, unlike big corporate entities. Gift certificates for nice restaurants near where they live were well received, too, if I was still unsure of a specific present.