I’ve gotten a lot of requests for this post over the years. Most of y’all know that I went to undergrad in Upstate New York. As a result of my days as a big red bear, the majority of my friends from undergrad are far, far away.
But how do I keep those friendships strong from afar? At most, we see each other 2-3 times a year. So, over the past 6 years, I’ve figured out how to maintain a long-distance friendship – a few tips and tricks to ensure that my friendships stay strong no matter what.
What I’m Wearing:
Dress: J.O.A. / Shoes: The Fix, c/o / Bag: Zac Zac Posen (also available via Rent the Runway)
Earrings: BaubleBar / Rings: BaubleBar
To help me craft this post on how to maintain a long-distance friendship, I actually reached out to some of my long-distance besties. We all agreed that first and foremost, communication is the most important trick to keeping that friendship strong.
But I don’t mean just talk or text regularly. One of my dearest friends in the whole wide world lives in NYC. On average, I see her about three times a year… but I talk to her almost daily. And our conversations are hardly ever about items of importance. Typically, I text her when I think of something just utterly bizarre. You know all of those thoughts that you have and you instantly think to yourself “yeah, I should never say that aloud”. Those are the thoughts we text each other.
We will also randomly FaceTime each other. In college, we became obsessed with a TV show and would FaceTime while watching the show every week. Not even looking at the camera. Just sitting there, watching the same show, occasionally having idiotic commentary. Nowadays, she’ll occasionally FaceTime me while we’re both getting ready to head out for the evening. Again, we’re not even looking at the camera, but it’s almost like we’re getting ready together.
And when we do actually see each other – face to face – we take advantage of the time we have together. Sometimes that means working from home so we can do breakfast, lunch, and dinner together. We’ll go on adventures, we’ll go shopping, we’ll dash off to a museum or we’ll go get makeovers at Sephora. It honestly doesn’t matter what we’re doing. We step away from our phones and focus entirely on hanging out together… because that time together is what’s most important.
How to Maintain a Long-Distance Friendship
- Keep open lines of communication at all times. Speak on the phone at least once a month and try to text each other at least once a week.
- Text your friend every time you think of him/her. Every inane thought. Each meme that makes you laugh out loud. Let your friend know that you’re thinking of him/her.
- FaceTime is your friend. Even if you can’t focus on the camera, it can still be so fun to pretend like you’re hanging out while doing an everyday task.
- Make a point to see each other at least once a year. Obviously this gets more difficult with international friendships, so I try to see my international friends once every other year or so at an absolute minimum.
Do y’all have any other tips I didn’t cover on how to maintain a long distance friendship? Let me know in the comments below!
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