The sad truth in a global family

The era of aviation made global travel easier, faster and more affordable. It used to be that families stay within 20 miles from where they are born. With the rise of aviation paved the way in the rise of global family.

What is a global family

A family whose members are geographically distant from each other. Lives in a different time zones and rarely sees each other in person.

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Why do people leave

There are so many reasons why people leave the place they were born. It may be due to peace and order, economics, politics, ambition, etc. All of the reasons stated points to one thing, the need for something better. There is nothing wrong about wanting something better. It is one of the characteristics that makes us human.

My global family

Mine is a good example of a global family. My Mother and Brother is in UK, Father in France. Sister in Switzerland, Brother in Manila, Sister in Dipolog City (Philippines) and me in UAE. All in all we live in 4 different time zones. We rarely see each other, not because we don’t want to but because of various reasons. The school year in UAE is from September to June while in the Philippines its June to March. There is also the cost of travelling, not everyone in the family can travel as frequently as I can due to my employment benefits. In-laws, nieces and nephews do not get highly discounted tickets. Long story short, other than me and my immediate family, everyone else have to travel commercial.

The sad truth

This month, both my sisters have been hospitalized for something that can also be considered as life threatening. No amount of technology can give you peace of mind when you know that your loved one is in danger.  When you call, when you Skype, when you WhatsApp, you also feel their pain, no technology can replace a hug. My mother doesn’t usually swear, but when she found out about what happened to my sister, I guess she just lost control of her emotions. Next to my sister’s pain, I also feel the pain of my mother. I know how much she wanted to be with my sisters, to be able to hug them, to be able to tell them that everything is going to be alright. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.

If I get seriously sick, my mother, my brother and sister can easily come to UAE because they have a British passport. If they get seriously sick, I won’t be able to go there because I don’t have a visa. I plan to do something about that. I have to save enough to be able to afford a long-term multiple entry to UK (at least) and multiple entry to Schengen states next. Because it just makes sense of you have a global family just like mine.