How to keep in touch with long distance friends

My longtime best friend moved across the country several years ago. She usually comes back home to visit once per year. If I’m being honest though, I wish I could see her more often than that.

Growing up means making life changes that sometimes causes us to move away from our friends and family. Life gets busy and before we know it, we’ve gone months without talking to someone who was a large part of our lives before.

In today’s post I’m sharing 5 ways to keep in touch with long distance friends.

1. Video chat

I hate facetime. There is no way that I am going to carry my phone around for long periods of time with someone else on the other side looking at me and watching everything I do.

I am too busy for that and sometimes I’m too tired to video chat. Additionally, my best friend lives in a different time zone which makes things very complicated if we wanted to facetime.

That’s why I use the Marco Polo app. I don’t know how I discovered this app honestly, but I love it because you can send video messages back and forth, that way you can respond whenever you can.

You are still getting face to face interaction, it just isn’t live. This is amazing for long distance friends especially if they are on a different time zone from you!

I also know a lot of people who use facetime regularly and it works for them. It just isn’t my thing.

2. Send cards

I will never tire of sending cards in the mail. I do love the ease and convenience of messaging my friends on social media, I also love sending a physical card in the mail. Picking out the perfect card is fun for me and I enjoy hand writing the note inside, something I do less and less now.

Send cards for holidays, birthdays, life events, and just because cards. Cards are a great way to keep in touch for a low cost.

3. Watch a show together and discuss (or read a book)

I had a friend that I kept in touch with for over 6 years simply because we watched the same show and discussed it all the time. Even though we only lived less than an hour from each other, we were both too busy and never really put in the effort to meet.

The show kept us in touch for such a long time and we still occasionally tag each other in posts we see online pertaining to the show we watched. Entertainment is a great way to stay connected and giving you something to chat about.

4. Send care packages

I don’t think I have ever sent a full care package before, but I’ve been meaning to because it is such a cute idea. It doesn’t have to be for a special occasion. It could be just because you felt like it. The most popular care package features candles, blankets, cookies, tea and other self care items.

I once sent a pair of workout pants to my bestie because I had the matching ones and I wanted her to have them as well.

5. Visit your friend

My long distance friend has a traveling job and has moved a lot over the last 10 years, but I did manage to visit her when she lived in Florida, and I recently visited her in Oregon. If you have the time, be sure to visit your friend or have them visit you at least once per year.

Bonus tip!

I find recipes on tik tok all the time and most of them end up tasting amazing! If you are the type of person who tries new recipes, why not invite your bestie to do a long distance cooking session with you? Make the same recipe or even different ones and discuss afterwards.

Final thoughts

Being an adult and having lots of responsibilities means it can be easy to lose touch with the people you care about the most. That is why it will require more effort from both of you in order to main a good relationship. Try these tips and see how they work out!