As I have spoken about before, I have several long distance friendships. It can be hard to sometimes to stay connected and keep our friendships strong. It’s a very unconventional way to be friends or have a relationship with someone, it’s almost alien to us as humans. We crave human contact and social interaction, so you have to become quite creative in your relationships to keep that level of interaction up.
The main way we ensure we do that is by being intentional with one another. Putting aside time to speak on FaceTime or sending letters and care packages to name a few. In todays post I’ll go through some things you can do to keep your long distance relationships thriving!
PLAN MOVIE FACETIME DATES
One of my favourite things to do. Pick a tv series or a movie neither of you have seen. Set up FaceTime on your phone, tablet or computers and watch the show at the same time. This is such a great bonding experience even though you don’t really talk much. It really mimics you both watching something together in person. Its also great at keeping to a regular schedule to speak to one another!
SEND LETTERS RATHER THAN TEXTS
Its such a rare occasion that I receive a letter in the mail that hasn’t come from a company. I know its easier and cheaper to send what you have to say via text, but it can be such a nice surprise to send a random letter letting the other person you know that you’re thinking of them. There have been several times where I have sent a letter or card to a long distance friend and without knowing it, the day they get it they were having a bad day. That letter could be the thing that makes their day and turns it around.
PLAY ONLINE VIDEO GAMES TOGETHER
Similar to the FaceTime dates, pick up the xbox or playstation controller and get a game that you can both play together virtually. This will give such a great sense of team work or competitiveness! Its such a great way to spend time together, and allows the time to bond and work together. With us not being able to travel I think sharing small things like playing a game together is such a great idea.
Think outside of the box, you could even play a game with each other via FaceTime. Being in long distance relationships requires you both to really think abnormally. Maybe an everyday thing you would do together in person can be adapted and changed to doing it virtually instead!
VIRTUAL QUIZZES
At the peak of lockdown I remember zoom quizzes were really popular. Me and my family did them every week for 2 months or so. It was such a great thing to do, and something we normally wouldn’t. You could take it in turns to do the questions, or even find some free quizzes online and do them together.
SURPRISE CARE PACKAGES
As my love language is gifting, I particularly like this one. There is nothing more that I enjoy than receiving a surprise package in the mail from someone I love. Especially because my friends are in America, I love getting treats that I miss so much because of not being able to go there. It doesn’t even need to be something expensive, maybe something small. I think for me its the gesture more than what’s contained in the parcel. Just knowing that they thought of me and went out of their way to send me something, makes me feel so loved.
How do you maintain your long distance relationships? Have you ever had a virtual movie night before?
Thanks so much for reading as always, see you in the next one!
Olivia x
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