Monday Postcard #27 – Investing in Your Friendships

I just came back from a girls’ weekend in Vietnam. It was my friend’s hen do and as we agreed that whatever happened in Hoi An will stay in Hoi An, I will not go into the details. But as you can imagine, it was a lot of fun.

Furthermore, this weekend abroad also helped me put things into perspective. It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I realized that very often, we tend to see things in silos. When I am stressed out, I tend to stay in, work, work, work and totally forget about taking care of myself, which also involves being social and meeting my friends. As I then only spend time on my own, I totally lose perspective of all the things going on. Are my “problems” really that big? Is it really worth stressing out about it?

But one of the most important things for me is to see how happy your friends are when you show them that they matter to you. The bride did not expect me to be there and was really surprised that I flew in from Thailand. She also was the one encouraging me to start my own business, move to Hong Kong and also reminded me with an honest “Liz, you look like crap, you need to get some sleep and relax.”, when I obsessed about my job and only kept working. And this is why I would like to dedicate this week’s Monday Postcard to friendships.

When I am homesick, I sometimes think about all my friends who I cannot meet for a coffee when I want to because I live abroad. But realistically, I would need to travel to so many places to see them. My friends actually do not all live in the same city. A lot of my Austrian friends moved abroad after university and because of my moves and travels, I made friends around the globe. For a coffee, I would have to travel to the US, Switzerland, Germany, the UK, Spain, Singapore, Hong Kong and probably a few other countries I just forgot.

However, the important thing is that it is possible to maintain friendships. No matter if you are super busy at work, travelling or moving from country to country like me. Take the time and get in touch. It is such a little thing and in times of Whatsapp and Facetime does not cost you anything to send a simple message to catch up. Even if your friend does not get in touch, do it yourself – they might be as busy as you are and I am sure they will be happy to hear from you. Just call them!

See Also

Monday Postcard #4 – Moving Around

Already in high school, one of my best friends Christoph said it does not matter how often real friends see each other but when they do it feels as if we have never been apart. And it is totally true.

I wish you all a great week ahead with a lot of catch ups, coffees and fun things with your friends!