Hi,

I moved out here in February and saying goodbye was very hard. As the day got closer, my parents (my father especially) got more upset. Like most people on here, I didn't want to say goodbye at the airport or train station, so we stayed the night before at my parents' house and ordered a taxi to take us from there to the airport.

When the moment came we were all in floods of tears and waving goodbye as the taxi took us down the road was awful.

Before we went, I'd taken the time to set them up with Skype, email and the like, and I kept in touch during the journey over, letting them know where we were etc, and once we had settled into the hotel we stayed in for the first couple of weeks, I set up a Skype video call. That really helped as, up until then, my last memory of them was of them both in floods of tears probably the most unhappy that I'd ever seen them.

The mood was much better during the Skype call, and it was great to see them smiling again. We now have a weekly call which really helps. Sure, it's not the same as being there, but it means we can see each other, and during birthdays etc, we have opened presents 'online' which is nice. We even made a birthday cake for my mum with a candle she 'blew out' over Skype. Silly things, but it makes it all a bit easier.

I miss them, and I'm looking forward to popping back to visit them sometime next year, but modern technology has made the world a lot smaller .