Easy Ways to Stay in Touch with Long Distance Friends

Whether it’s because they move to a different state right after graduation or got relocated for their job, there really comes a time when you can no longer just grab a drink after work and see all your close friends. While there are now more ways to stay connected with each other, feeling detached from your friend can be easy when the extent of your “staying in touch” is only through texts or emails. Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to get out of your communication rut and truly connect with your long distance friend.

1. Meet Them Halfway

Is your friend’s new home just within distance? If so, choose a place in the exact middle of the cities you both live in and commit yourselves to going on an adventure to a random place. Even if you actually end up spending your weekends watching chick flicks on a hotel, it’s still an inexpensive and awesome way to fully catch up with each other sans the annoying travel time.

2. Send Postcards

It may seem old-fashioned to you, but your friend will certainly love the idea of getting mail – especially now that sending and receiving postcards rarely happens. So take old photos of you and your friend, and turn them into cute postcards. You’ll realize that it’s more fun than simply posting a throwback photo on Facebook.

3. Optimize Your Phone Calls

Often find yourself strapped for time that you can no longer call your friend? Then having a weekly or bimonthly conference call would be a great solution. Set a date when you have enough time to make calls, and catch up with your closest friends all at once. Make great use of mobile applications like Google Hangout where you get to chat up with eight to 10 people at a time.

4. Read Good Books at the Same Time

Finishing a great book and not having someone to talk about it is always kind of a let-down. To keep this from happening, as well as to creatively connect with your friend, consider reading a book at the same time. Once you’ve decided on which book to read, vow to make weekly check-ins so you can talk about everything that you both like and hate about the story.

5. Watch Your Favourite Shows Together

Create a tradition of watching your favourite shows, or any upcoming movie that you like, together through using Rabbit – a service that allows you to stream YouTube videos and movies from Netflix on one site that both you and your friend can view simultaneously. The service is done on the site, which means you don’t need to worry about installing a software or downloading an app.

It’s quite easy to develop a detachment in a long distance friendship, so be sure to try out any of these activities with your closest friends to ensure that you keep your friendship alive.