Having moved away overseas shortly after graduating university, it’s always been nice to be able to get little reminders of back home. Despite thoroughly enjoying my new life here in Costa Rica I still like to reminisce about all the things that I miss back home, and what my previous life in Thailand meant to me. Thankfully, my siblings have no problem in sending me little things to remind me of home, which is just perfect for keeping me in touch with my past! They like to send me thing such as;

Care Packages

I get a lot of care packages from my siblings as they pick up meats and snacks from the local stores around me. Growing up in Kentucky, we used to use local stores mainly so it’s awesome to get a nice little reminder of what breakfast tastes like back home, or to have a few local snacks that I’ve never seen here!

Memorable Photos

My siblings are great at capturing areas that I loved to visit a child, and this is a great way to keep my memories alive. I can even compare the photos of what things look like now vs. what they did when I was younger, which is always great for nostalgia! Now we can post them to Flickr or Instagram and share with each other that way.

Visits

They obviously come out to visit me a lot, and this is a good way of keeping in touch with what’s going on back home and how everything is. It’s nice to see that some customs remain with people from Kentucky as well; it’s very encouraging to get updates!

Cherrydale Pretzel Rods

We used to eat these back home as we’d sell them to raise money for our school’s lacross team. The first year we sold Cherrydale pretzel rods I hate half of my supply and had to use my allowance to cover the cost, oops! Every time I get a care package or they are coming out I always specifically request these! We used to buy them all the time, and they are one of my main memories of back home. Everybody has that candy bar or snack they always think of when they get nostalgic – well, this is it for me!

Community Updates

One of the best things about this is that I get to relive a lot of memories that are alive in my head, but I also get to stay connected with my “old” life and what goes on back home. By keeping me in touch with old friends with phone numbers and social media, this lets me never lose that connection I have with Kentucky, so if you are looking to help somebody remind themselves of home little incentives like this can be just perfect!