Living abroad has been the most amazing experience, but it can be difficult when trying to stay in touch with people from back home. Anyone who has studied abroad or lived abroad can attest to the difficulty of communicating with family and friends who are in a different time zone. Although this inconvenience can be easily fixed by the ease of technology and apps like Skype and Viber, it is still something that you must get used to when living abroad.

It never really becomes easier to go about your day at a completely unsynchronized time from your family and friends, but it quickly becomes the new normal. Although I would love to be able to speak to my family whenever I want, I have come to respect the different time zones, and appreciate when they do align at the right times to chat.

I find time zones incredibly fascinating, because it divides the world into separate microcosms that are begin and end again at staggered paces. It is so crazy to know that when you wake up in the morning, different parts of the world are in the middle of their day, or even winding down to go to bed. For instance, being in the UK means I begin my day five hours before everyone I know at home, and people in Australia or New Zealand begin another thirteen hours before I do.

Living in a different time zone allows you to see this phenomenon up close and in person, and truly see how interconnected, but also separated the world can be. After traveling all over Europe, and back and forth to the US over the past few months, I have seen first hand how seamless it is to jump on a plane, and land in a completely different part of the world. At the same time, I see how the world is isolated within these time zones that restrict open communication.

If you really think about it, times zones are essentially the closest thing we have to time travel. It is pretty wild when you think about how we can gain or lose time just by getting on an airplane, and flying in the sky. We can sometimes arrive tomorrow or yesterday, gain a few hours, or lose them.

Nowadays I sometimes forget that I am communicating with friends and family at home in a different time zone. Even though it has gotten much easier, I know I will appreciate being back in the same time zone so much more once I return, but I’m not going to rush it.