Happy Monday! Today I have an awesome guest post from Olivia Hill, who I met when she came to Galentine's Day for The Letter Project in February. She's funny, awesome, kind andddd super stylish. I had a great time getting to know her and thought you might, too! (She recently started a blog, so if you like this post, there's more where it came from!)
Today, she's talking about maintaining long-distance BFFs, which is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. So many of my buddies are scattered all over the US. So, without further ado:
Five Creative Ways to Maintain Your Long-distance BFF Relationships
Have you ever felt the pains of keeping high-quality long-distance friendships?
Or felt as if your once deep connections with friends have faded over time and distance?
Or that you kind of know what everyone is doing (thanks SnapChat), but you're not really sure how anyone is feeling?
Same. Without a college campus, forced social gatherings, and study parties to keep you engaged and constantly around your friends, post-grad relationships can be hard to maintain.
For me, most of my best friends left Atlanta after graduating, and embarked on their adult lives in faraway cities. Through, trial, error, and a few passive aggressive "hi-remember-me-" texts, I've spent these past two years figuring out the best ways to maintain (and even grow) my friendships.
Side note: These tips could also totally work for a long distance romantic relationship. However, my single-loving-self has leveraged these best practices to strengthen my female friendships. #girlpower
1. FACETIME DATES
Nothing beats the genuine connection of face-to-face communication. You're able to pick up on subtle facial expressions, body language cues, and eye contact that ads so much depth and emotional connection to a conversation.
I'm personally guilty of instagram scrolling during phone calls and I end up missing a vulnerable comment or perhaps a tenor of emotion of emotion that I would have normally caught if I was paying attention.
Pro tip: FaceTiming can feel like a production and big commitment, but it doesn't have to be that way! 5, 10, or even 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time to pop in, say hello, hear about her day and say goodbye. Plus, it’s always fun to catch a friend off-guard with a video call. Sorry, bff. No time to fix your hair for me. I love you just the way you are.
2. SMALL, BUT MIGHTY, DAILY DOSES
Relationships thrive in the day-to-day connecting, so take a moment or two to acknowledge when you're thinking of that friend.
One of my favorite ways to do that is to keep an active Instragram feed between my individual friend and myself.
With each of my friends I send them one of instagrams that are unique to our friendship. It could be a funny dog photo, a spiritual quote, or some bad ass travel spot we talked about last time we were together.
These small daily bursts of love and attention work wonders for a friendship.
3. THE WALK ’N’ TALK
In a stroke of genius (and now a sacred tradition), my best friend and I started what we called our weekly walking dates.
We pick a time over the weekend where we're both free for an hour, we grab our headphones, and head out in our respective cities for a walk together.
She may be be walking through downtown Manhattan and I may be strolling through Buckhead, but despite that fact that we’re physically separated, there's still something so special in completing a similar activity at the same time.
Plus, it’s quality uninterrupted time, your brain is fresh from the physical movement, and you don’t have to worry about roommates overhearing your intimate conversations.
4. GOOD ‘OLE SNAIL MAIL
There’s something so thrilling about snail mail. The romantics of it - the idea of a friend sitting down with their own handwriting to tell you a story.
The personal touches of her handwriting. It's personal, thoughtful, and straight up awesome to get something in the mail besides bills.
5. PLAN TRIPS TOGETHER
Yes, it's so much fun to visit your friend in their respective city, but don't underestimate the joys of traveling somewhere new together.
I love to travel and, lucky for me, I have a group of friends who are awesome at planning travel excursions.
I can't tell you how much our friendship has grown from spending quality time exploring the city together. It takes the pressure off the host friend to plan the perfect weekend, and you all get to soak up a little bit of that new city high.
Not only is it so much fun to take adventures with your best friends, but the planning of a trip is the perfect way to stay in touch. It gives you and your friends something to look forward to.
Pro tip: Scott's Cheap Flights have awesome flight deals. My friends and I snagged a round trip flight to Hanoi over Thanksgiving and we. can't. wait.
So, here's to figuring out how to be better friends in a rapidly changing social environment! Are you with me?