How To: Keeping in Touch with Long Distance Friends
Staying in touch with your friends is no easy feat. We all know the run around; your friend texts you, you read it but you respond 12 hours later and then they return the favor by not responding at all. It’s the merry go-round of young-adult friendships and the number one way to lose a bestie. When I moved to Seattle I had to figure out how to navigate my friendships from far away.
Below I’ve listed a few things that help me to continue keeping in touch, not only with friends, but family too. All of these things go both ways though, it takes two to tango, or whatever metaphor you use.
GROUP MESSAGE: if you have a group of friends that you’re close to, create a group chat through Instagram. This is the quickest way to shoot a short and sweet message, or funny image or meme to all of them at the same time. Instagram is also more casual than your typical iMessage group chat. There’s no underlying pressure to respond, as long as your friend saw your message, that’s all that matters, and they’ll respond when they aren’t swamped. Or they won’t, it could still go either way.
HOUSEPARTY / ZOOM: I recommend setting aside a time that you and your friend(s) can use zoom or houseparty. Make zoom happy hour lit. This is a great way to plan an “event” with friends who don’t live nearby. Tell your friends to grab their chosen drink-from-home and pop a squat on the living room floor to laugh and pretend like things are normal.
SHARE MEMES: If your friends are like mine, they have disturbing yet hilarious humor. And I know that we're all attached at the hip to their phone, so when you swipe past a meme that literally makes you “lol”, send it to your group chat. This is a great way just to share a laugh and it could spark a conversation, you never know! I don’t know why this works, but try sending it via Instagram or another social media platform – sometimes texting seems too uptight.
SHARE NETFLIX: One of my favorite ways to keep into contact with my best friends’ back home is sharing any of my streaming services with them. So, when they don’t respond to your messages, just change the password and then they have to text back. Just kidding. But seriously, share what you’re watching with them, find a show you both (or all) love and binge it so you have something to discuss. Shout out to my bestie, Alex, for allowing me to use her Hulu.
JUST FACETIME: Seriously, just do it. Who cares if it’s the middle of the day, how busy are we really? Sometimes I just facetime my friends, no plan to do so, just felt like talking to them. Surprise FT calls just lets them know that you were thinking of them, it’s actually sweeter than it is inconvenient. If you really value these people as friends, you’ll make time for them – no matter what. Plus, if they don’t answer, they’ll likely call back because a missed FT call usually prompts a call or message back.
At the end of the day, value your friends, because doing life without them seems so bland. Relationships aren’t easy and friendships are included in that! Sometimes it’ll feel like work, but the reward makes it so, so worth it. Call your friends, and your mom!