I was reading Batz's Journal, where she comments her views on leaving Barcelona after being there two years, and going away from those friendships she has formed during her time there.

I started thinking that in fact these days it's not so difficult to keep in touch with those you care about.  With e-mail, messenger, skype, blogging and of course text messaging and voice telephony you can still keep in touch.  These days video conferencing is not so difficult either, as many chatting programs have integrated it.

Around a year ago, I was in a very particular situation.  My parents were living in Brazil, my sister in Mexico, my fiancée in Japan and I was in Finland, so there was a minimum of 8,000 km between one member of the family and the next.  Keeping in mind the time differences, these utilities were a godsend, and now that I'm in Belgium I use them to keep in touch, as my friends and family are scattered all over the place.

This is much better than the situation in the Middle Ages, or even 30 years ago.  In that sense I'm glad I was born at a time when this is possible.