FaceTime is Saving our Marriage

If you can recall from our February 23, 2013 post, I would live in Playa del Carmen most of the year, while my husband, since he is still working in the United States, would fly back and forth as much as possible.  

This arrangement seemed challenging as we were planning our move, and has proved to be even more difficult since we have put our plans in action.  Being apart has been and continues to be the hardest part of living here in the Riviera Maya. 

We do have our international cell phone plan that allows us to talk 10 to 20 hours per month.  But we also knew that seeing each other, in real time, would help ease the discomfort of not actually being with each other.  We needed to identify a real-time video resource that would meet our needs if we were going to make our dream work.

We researched several options and found that the primary resource that we have been using to make this arrangement work is FaceTime.    FaceTime is a real-time video talk app for Apple devices.  All we need to use this app is WIFI.  Our WIFI in the United States is excellent.  And, we have pretty good WIFI here in Playa del Carmen through Cablemas Internet service. 

During the week, my husband says good morning to me from work with FaceTime.  And in the evening, we each talk about events of the day and say good night to each other with FaceTime.  On the weekends, we are on FaceTime with each other most of the day, as we keep each other company preparing meals,  cleaning both homes, watching movies, dining together…just about everything we would do if we were together in the same location.

Now, I’ll admit, it does not take the place of holding hands, cuddling up in bed at night, or spending intimate time together.  What it does do is help us stay connected, in real time, in a way that meets our needs until we see each other again. It’s not perfect, but it definitely makes our time apart a bit easier to deal with.

Now if they would just get that Star Trek transporter working!