Ideally, when you find a friend, they're close to you. You can go shopping with them, binge-watch your favorite shows together, veg out on the couch with ice cream in hand and slippers on, and the like. But sometimes, the universe doesn't want to hand you convenience. Sometimes, you meet someone who is a soul-friend, but they don't live near you. Sometimes, they're a few towns over, sometimes, they're across the country, sometimes, around the world. But these people are worth fighting for - fighting for your friendship. But how, you ask? Don't worry, we've got you covered. We have compiled a list for you of the 10 ways we maintain our long-distance friendship, because let's be real, that has basically been the reality for the entirety of our friendship. So here you are - our take on what it takes to keep that friendship fire-a-burnin.
1. Sending all the pictures
We. Communicate. Through Pictures. (And emoticons, truthfully). I mean really - between Snapchat and screenshots of EVERYTHING and dog photos and quotes - we send pictures always. Like, always. It's a great way to feel like you are hanging out with each other, like normal friends do.
2. Start something personal together
Hello, Love Mala. Have you met our blog? It's the baby we're the most proud of, but don't tell the others (shh). Kidding, but really - this brain child came along literally like 4 months into our friendship, but between both of our weddings, and family emergencies it took us FOREVER to get up and running. But here we are. And it has been incredible. No matter what we blog about, whether it is joint or solo, beauty or travel, we always get to collaborate and it is wonderful. It has brought us SO much closer.
3. Make plans to see each other as regularly as possible
Ok, truth be told, neither of us are rolling in dough, but we do like to plan visits as often as we can get around to it. "Hey, I'm going to get my hair done this weekend, and I'm nervous. What do plane ticket prices look like right now?" Obviously, we totally wish we were roommates, or maybe neighbors with adjoining houses because we are 12 years old, but it makes getting together each time so much more exciting because you don't see each other all the time!
4. Video Chat
Always. All the time. Makeup. No-makeup. Pitch dark. Doesn't matter, we always FaceTime. Honestly, probably about once a week on average (sometimes more, sometimes less). Often, at incredibly inappropriate times, like in the grocery store, in the car, at the doctors office, or just to show the other what we are shopping for and ask for their opinion. Something about having that "face-to-face" time with each other makes us feel close.
5. Watch the same shows/movies (maybe even together)
Game of Thrones. The Walking Dead. The X-Files. We love to nerd out over these shows. It is fun to get on the phone or FaceTime, or even just texting, and reacting to the show in real time together. Discussing all the plot and character development, like it's the juiciest gossip to hit the market.
6. Stay up-to-date with each others daily lives
We will literally update each other with the most useless and random information as it happens, but thats because no matter how seemingly mundane the details might be to someone else, it's probably the most fascinating thing we've heard all day.
7. Dream about moving onto an island together with the honeys, all the animals and all the babies
What more can two girls want!? This dream, although quite specific, comes in many varieties; sometimes on a ranch in Colorado, sometimes tucked away in the woods of North Carolina, sometimes on an island in God knows where. But, it's always full of the very same things - furry friends (dogs, horses, fluffy cows, you name it, we've thought of it) and those sweet, sweet men of ours. Plus a few chubby babes of our own (calm down, peeps, not yet) who we've planned will grow up and fall in love because that's just how the dang universe works, obviously.
8. Texting, Snapchat, Facebook, Yahoo Live Text, Pinterest
Normalcy for us is having at least 5 notifications at any given time from one another, typically on at least 3 social media mediums at once. Why? We have no clue, but it seems fun (although overwhelming to those of us who get notification anxiety (*ahem, Mal. Took her a bit to get used to the chaos of this one) - but it is actually super fun. We will share fun videos on Facebook Messenger, share recipes, quotes, and furry baby animals via Pinterest and Instagram, new workout videos and blogs, Live Text when FaceTime is just over the boundary of being inappropriate for the current situation, and (thanks to the new Snapchat filters) send unnecessary amounts of face swaps and dog-eared photos to each other.
9. Plan adventures together - and follow through
This one ties back into number 3. Taking into consideration the financial aspect and lining up our crazy schedules, this one can be a bit tricky. But nothing some vigilant airplane ticket watching, budgeting, and strategic scheduling can't cure. This may happen far less often than we like, but making it a priority and working toward a mutual goal is a good place to start!
10. Snail mail. And presents just because.
It offers that tangible solace and makes the distance feel instantly less colossal. And there's just something terribly lovely about getting a hand-written note, especially in our modern world where gratification is instant (albeit, great). It's a special way to remind that person just how damn rad they are.
Keeping in touch - like, really staying close - does take mutual effort, and sincere desire for it to work, but as long as you can enjoy your time spent "together", you've already made it half way. And truthfully, the beautiful thing is, with real friends, near or far, you understand that they have lives that don't revolve around you, and vice versa. And you can go a long time or a short time without talking to each other, but once you pick up the phone, or get together, its like you just pick up where you left off. You do everything you can to maintain the contact, make the plans, dish out the details of your juicy (or not so juicy) life, but sometimes, life just gets in the way. But hey, technology has made things much easier for our generation, eh?! #BlessLTE for allowing us to literally pretend we live together via Snapchat, texting, and everything else we just mentioned. We mutually make efforts to do everything we talked about here regularly (and are mostly successful), because this sisterhood is so important to us and is so worth the efforts!
Much love from your pals, currently 750 miles apart.
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