TL;DR
64 original messages for a friend going abroad, sorted by the moment you're sending them — the day the visa comes through, the night before the flight, the airport, and the first weeks after they land — plus sets for studies abroad, a job abroad, the friend group, funny lines, Hinglish and Hindi. The rule: proud first, sad second. Your friend is more scared than they're showing, and the message that helps is the one that lets them go without guilt. For a regular trip rather than a move, safe journey wishes is the lighter set.
The rule for going-abroad messages
A friend moving to another country is getting two things at once: the thing they worked for (the admit, the offer, the visa) and the loss of everything familiar. Messages that only say "I'll miss you" put the weight of your sadness on top of theirs.
So the order matters. Proud, then honest, then a door left open. "You did it. I'm going to miss you stupidly. Call whenever, any time zone." That's the shape of nearly every line below.
The general farewell set — new jobs in another city, college farewells, the night-before text — is in farewell messages for a best friend moving away. This page is only about the move across a border.
When the visa comes through (8)
The first message of the goodbye is a celebration, and it should sound like one.
The night before the flight (8)
They're sitting on a suitcase they can't close. Send one of these.
At the airport, after security (6)
Sent once they've gone through and can't turn around — they'll read it alone at the gate.
Going for studies abroad (8)
For the master's, the PhD, the undergrad — Toronto, Glasgow, Melbourne, Munich, Boston.
Going for a job abroad (6)
For the offer in Dubai, Singapore, London or the Bay Area.
From the friend group (6)
For the group card, the group video or the one message everybody signs.
Funny goodbye lines (8)
Hinglish one-liners (6)
Romanized Hinglish reads best on WhatsApp — it's how you'd actually say it.
हिंदी — for a card or a letter (4)
Each line copies with its romanized version.
After they've landed — the first weeks (4)
The goodbye is over; the homesickness hasn't started yet. These keep the door open.
If the homesickness arrives properly a few weeks in, messages for someone who is homesick is written for exactly that stretch.
When a message isn't enough
A message gets scrolled past by week two. If you want them to have something from you that weighs nothing and survives the move, Lovely's Bon Voyage page is built for this exact send-off. It opens on a boarding pass with their name — "BOM → YYZ, seat 1A · window, obv, class: emotionally business, baggage: 2 bags + maa's achaar" — and they tear off the stub to board. At 35,000 feet they slide the window shade up and clouds drift past, each one carrying a line from you. Next, an immigration desk: they tap the passport to stamp it — "visa approved: to call home every sunday", "no entry: for homesickness", "re-entry: valid anytime. door's open." Then a little jet crosses the map to their new city, and the last screen says "go be brilliant" with your names and a button to wave goodbye. ₹49 one-time, three to six window messages, three to six stamps, all editable.
"The passport stamps are what people screenshot," says Lovely's founder. "'No entry for homesickness' ends up as somebody's lock screen in Toronto every September."
What NOT to send
- "Don't forget us." It puts the work on them. Say "we won't forget you" instead.
- "Why do you even need to go?" Too late, and it was never your call.
- Horror stories about racism, rent or job markets in their new country. They've read them.
- A guilt countdown to their first visit home. Ask once, gently, and leave it.
Make it theirs: the one edit
Name one thing they're leaving and one thing they're going to. "The group chat will be dead without you" becomes "Sunday biryani at Paradise will be dead without you." "Your first winter is coming" becomes "Your first Edmonton winter is coming." One real noun from each side of the flight is all it takes.
Frequently asked questions
What should I write to a friend who is going abroad?
Something that admits you will miss them and then lets them go without guilt: "I'm going to miss you stupidly. Go anyway. Go and be brilliant." The best goodbye messages are proud first and sad second, because the friend leaving is usually more scared than they are showing.
When should I send the goodbye message?
The night before the flight or at the airport after security, when they are sitting alone at the gate with their phone. Earlier in the week it gets lost in packing; after they land it reads as a reply rather than a send-off.
What is a funny message for a friend going abroad?
Joke about the things every Indian student or worker abroad goes through — the 23 kg baggage limit, maa's achaar in the suitcase, the first winter. "Ab tu foreign return hai. Accent mat laana." Keep the jokes about them, never about the country they chose.
How do I say goodbye to a friend going abroad in Hindi?
Simple and warm: "Ja, apne sapne poore kar — yahan ki fikr mat karna." Devanagari suits a card or a letter; romanized Hinglish reads best on WhatsApp. Every Hindi line on this page copies in both scripts together.
What can I give a friend who is moving abroad?
Something weightless, because their baggage allowance is already full. A letter, a photo album on their phone, or a bon voyage page — Lovely's has a boarding pass, window-seat messages and passport stamps for ₹49 — travels with them without costing a single kilo.