For a variety of reasons, you and your BFF might no longer be together. Perhaps they were accepted to a distant school or their family relocated. Even worse, they might land a position thousands of miles from you. It’s crucial to understand how to keep a long-distance friendship alive because of this.
Can it really endure? How strong of a bond does a friendship need to be to last across such a long distance? Although it can be a little unsettling to consider that your best friend might be permanently removed, do not be alarmed. You’ll be alright as long as you know how to maintain the friendship.
Friendships take a lot of time and effort
Local friendships are easier to maintain than long-distance ones, but this does not indicate that they are entirely work-related. You adore your friend, and they are your friend. Without actually meeting, keeping in touch and finding time for one another should still be enjoyable.
Friendships are more than just the tiny things we encounter every day. Our pleasure is greatly influenced by our friendships. Even if you have a significant other, you would feel extremely lonely without them. Friends are simply on a totally different plane.
But if you don’t get to see each other as frequently, it means you have to work much harder to maintain your friendship. To ensure that you don’t miss out on a great friend, you must take action.
Can a long-distance friendship work?
If a friend of yours intends to relocate, you could be asking yourself this question. A distance friendship can be successful.
You should take the time to make sure you’re catching up because you live so far apart. Your friendship doesn’t have to suffer at all because of distance. As long as you treat this connection with the respect and consideration it merits, it can still be wonderful since absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Friendships that last a long time and are maintained through distance are known to be quite strong.
How to make a long-distance friendship work
A long-distance friendship will require some adjusting to make it work. It will be distinct from your connections with neighboring friends. Your relationship need not suffer because you can’t just drop by their house whenever you want.
To find out what works best for you and your pal, some trial and error is required. With them, you’ll have to perform a lot of things that are out of the ordinary for you. Fortunately, we have all the advice you need to maintain a long-distance friendship for a lifetime.
1. Text and call regularly
This is quite significant. You must continue to communicate in the same manner as previously. Just because they’re far away doesn’t mean you have to stop communicating with them. You should actually do it more often. Keep an eye on things and make sure to chat frequently.
Tell me about your days, please. Talk about your family, job, and social life. You shouldn’t stop sharing the same things you always share just because you aren’t face to face.
2. Become pen pals
You can’t do the things you used to do to bond with your friend because they live far away. To do it, writing letters to one another as pen pals is ideal.
Even while it takes a little longer than sending a lengthy SMS, handwritten letters can be much more heartfelt and private. People enjoy receiving mail, particularly letters from friends. Print some old pictures, then include those as well.
When you write, you can connect and discuss deeper topics. It lacks the text’s sense of urgency. Sharing is more important than brief back and forth conversations. In a letter, you can really be yourself. Talk about life and reveal your secrets. Later on, having such recollections will be pleasant.
3. Snapchat frequently
A great way to interact in brief, connected bursts is via Snapchat. Though you can see their face, they’ll seem nearby even if they’re halfway around the world away. You’ll feel close to and connected to your BFF because of this.
Send pictures of your food or the meal you’re cooking for them. Show off your daily attire or take some adorable pet photos.
4. Video chat
Another way to stay connected is to video chat. Talking on the phone and texting is fun, but it’s not the same as a face-to-face conversation. This isn’t exactly that, but it’s as close as it gets when you have a long-distance friendship.
You can have quick video chats just to ask a question or for some advice about what to wear on a date. You can also plan out longer chats and virtually share a meal.
5. Watch movies on the same nights
This is to maintain some sense of being there with them. If you used to go to the movies a lot as friends, keep doing it. You don’t have to be sitting right next to each other to see a movie on the same day. This really helps you both feel like nothing has changed, even when you’re far away.
If you both love a show, watch it while video chatting or just text during the commercials.
6. Send each other funny memes
For some reason, this helps friendships more than a lot of other things. We often don’t have much happening in our lives that’s worth a phone call or video chat.
That means you might not be talking as much as you were when you saw each other more frequently. What you can do instead is send each other funny memes. You can keep each other entertained from far away. If you don’t have time to chat or just don’t really have much to talk about, sending a funny meme shows that you’re thinking of them.
7. Talk about major world news and events
You can’t just partake in small talk and expect your friendship never to change. If you talked about this major stuff before, keep talking about it. It’s important to maintain a strong emotional connection when you have a long-distance friendship, and talking about touchy subjects will do just that.
You can grow your bond and really get to know each other better by discussing more difficult subjects.
8. Update them on your life and vice versa
Even if it’s a small thing and you don’t think it matters, still talk to them about it. When they lived closer to you, they got to see and hear a lot about your life just by being in it.
Chances are, they’ll be happy to hear about it no matter what. This is another thing that creates the illusion that you’re still very close.
9. Reminisce about fun things in the past
Keep in mind the positives to maintain your friendship. It will not only make you both incredibly happy, but it will also inspire you to work hard to recreate those moments. When you have that drive, you’ll work harder to maintain your friendship.
Send us any old pictures you have that appear online. When you come across someone from your past, tell your friend. Because they are embarrassing, you may sometimes shut out certain memories, yet talking about old times with a friend may encourage you to grin rather than grimace.
10. Maintain connections with their family if you were close
When they were close by, if you could enter their parents’ home and grab something from the refrigerator, keep doing it. Obviously, you might want to text their family as a politeness, but if you already got along well with them, you should continue to do so.
11. Take trips together
anytime you can, stop by. You may even arrange trips and make accommodations. You still want to occasionally see them in person even though they live far away. This provides you some time to catch up and get your connection back to normal before you part ways once more.
12. Don’t let too much time pass
It becomes busy. You might easily forget to text them for a few days because you don’t see each other very often. But try not to let too much time pass before acknowledging it. You slip apart in that way without recognizing it. Even if you only share a meme or amusing video, you are still communicating.
13. Send gifts
Spending a little money on them is nice, but giving them modest care packages is much better. Send them locally renowned goodies if they live farther away and you still reside in your hometown. Send them a book you recently read or that sweater they have always loved.
14. Plan dates
Plan dates just like a couple would. If you don’t make time, it’s easy to let your long-distance friendship fall by the wayside. Plan to have a pleasant, lengthy video talk once or twice every week. To surprise one another, prepare a meal together or place takeout orders for one another.
15. Do everything you would do if you were able to see each other
Of course, you can only do this to a limited extent. The key is to avoid allowing circumstances to alter only because of an address. Send one another photos, text about your relationships, or call one another when intoxicated and express your affection for them. Make sure they are aware that nothing is altering simply because you have moved to a different zip code.
In actuality, maintaining a long-distance friendship is very similar to keeping up a long-distance romantic connection. Every day, you must make an effort to maintain and improve your relationship.
