The Number of UK Expats Living Abroad Prompts Search for Lost Friends and Family

With almost 5 million Brits living abroad, many of whom were born in Devon, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of where they’ve gone. This is especially important for older Britons who have a desire to see what old friends are up to and if they are doing well where they’ve finally settled. Many left for Europe and eventually landed in the United States, Canada, Australia and many other nations around the world.

Life goes on, you lose touch with friends, and before you know it, they’ve moved away. Are you among those in Devon seeking old friends and perhaps distant relatives who’ve moved abroad and not returned home? If so, the Internet is a vital resource for finding information on where they may have landed.

Job Required Movement

Many times, people are transferred by the company for which they work. This is becoming more and more common as companies take their business to a global level. Branches are popping up around the world, and sometimes it’s difficult to find where a friend has been posted with his or her company. If you know the name of your friend’s place of employment, you could always try to see if he or she has an email address at work. All you need to know is the name of the company or their web address (URL), and you can use a web-based search form to see what email addresses are associated with that firm.

One very good resource is theemailfinder.co, where you can search the company’s domain and any email accounts registered with that domain will be listed for you. This is always a good place to start and not nearly as tricky as calling a company that may be unwilling to give you any personal information about current or past employees.

Social Media

Another great resource if you don’t have a domain address or company name is to search using social media. Today, most people have at least one social media account, and you can probably bet that if they have only one or two, one will be Facebook or Twitter. That is a good place to start. Simply search people by name, and if you want, you can always add ‘Devon’ or ‘Plymouth’ to your search parameters.

If they have entered any biographical information about their place of birth, you should have good luck finding the person you are seeking to get in touch with. Then, all you need to do is message them or send a ‘friend request’, and if it is your long, lost mate, they’ll recognize your name and accept the request.

Internal Migration

One more key statistic shows that Britons are also moving around within the UK, more so than ever before in history. If you can’t find your friend abroad, you might want to try looking closer to home. More people migrated to Cornwall than to any other UK location in the past decade, so that’s a good place to start.

With the Internet, there is every reason to believe it is possible to find those you’ve been out of touch with. It may take patience and a diligent effort on your part, but if they are online, one day you will find them.