One thing I have wanted to do on my blog is a vlog, so you all can see the person behind Kaila with an E. So, I instantly knew, when the chance to link with my friends came up, this was the perfect time to show y’all a little peek into my life and feature my best friends all at the same time. But wait, I couldn’t just show y’all the vibes without being real about my friendships.
So, not only do y’all get a vlog, but you all also get some gems that help with maintaining long-distance friendships.
The friends featured in my vlog are some of my best friends who have taught me that distance means nothing when people mean something to you. But here’s a moment of truth. I was afraid of how my friendships would negatively change once I graduated from college and was no longer around them as much.
Friendships after College
It was hard to switch from being in college where I literally was with my best friends every day and then graduating and knowing I would not see them as often. But now that it has been six months since graduating from college, I can say my friendships have been A1 (top quality) despite the distance, and we all talk on the regular.
Plus, I also have made an more of an effort to not allow distance to come between my friendships through taking some trips to see my friends like my trip to St. Louis *inserts slight plug*. Go check out my things to do guide for St. Louis!
So now that I have been real, let’s drop these gems that help my friends and me maintain our long-distance friendships.
Gems for Maintaining Long-Distance Friendships
While writing this post, I told my friends, “everyone drop one thing you think is important in maintaining long-distance friendships.”
The first person to respond was Ramon, and he said, ” Communication and getting together at least once a year.” So, let’s start there.
- Communicate AND plan links/meetups at least once a year.
First things first, communication is a major key to maintaining long- distance friendships. Whether you decide to communicate through phone calls and facetime calls or through Snaps and Instagram, it’s essential to make time and keep in touch with each other.
My friends and I literally have a group chat for our regular messages, Snapchat, and Instagram where we are always talking and sharing things like encouraging words, jokes, etc. Like, with our busy schedules, we know phone calls aren’t always the best move, so a simple text or sharing a post with each other goes a long away.
With communication, it’s just as important to plan AND follow through with a link up. Notice how I said follow through cause it’s easy to plan a trip or time to see each other and that just be all talk and no action. My friends and I are getting better at making plans and moves, whether that’s bigger trips (vacations) or shorter trips like linking up at Leo for Homecoming (hints the vlog). Making time to see each other even if it’s once a year like Ramon said, is a must because there is nothing like physically being around your best friends.
Next Tiffany followed up with,
“Ooof, I would say keeping things interesting because just texting/facetiming probably gets boring, so sending each other a little surprise box maybe with their favorite snacks just a lil pick me up.”
Then similarly,
Myah shared, “Being spontaneous whether random texts, random phone calls/ facetimes, gifts, pop-ups, whatever the case may be and trusting that even through distance nothing can or will come against your friendship.”
So from what they shared comes gem #2.
- Keep things interesting! Just communicating through a phone won’t do.
Though phone calls, facetime, and texting are good ways to keep in touch, they can become so routine and boring. So like Tiff and Myah said, make even more of an effort to show your friends you are thinking of them. Send little care packages, birthday gifts, or even random letters and things they can keep as memories.
My friends are good for sending/ giving little things randomly, and so am I. I like to make sure my friends know I love and appreciate their friendship and don’t take them for granted.
Check out some cards I made my friends just to keep things exciting and make sure they know I was thinking about them or wanting to show them, I appreciate them being real.
Next, Mary G dropped her gem, which said, “Keeping up with what goes on in each other’s lives, so we can always be a constant support in each other’s lives.”
- Keep up with what’s new and support each other.
In friendships, especially long-distance friendships, it’s mad vital to keep up with each other’s lives. It can be easy to get so caught up in your own busy life that you begin to neglect/ distance yourself from friends. Even if you have to schedule some time to sit down and reach out to your friends, make sure you stay in the know about what’s really good with your friends. My friends and I are sure to keep up with what’s new in each other’s lives even while all being busy on the regular.
We all stay in tune with each other’s moves, and we support each other 100%. From business ventures and exploring hobbies to college classes and graduation, we are right there supporting each other to the fullest. Even on our down days, when we are going through something, we reach out and let each other know that when they are ready to share what’s up with them, we are there.
To go off of tip #3, Lamar’s long-distance friendship gem was “Communicating and reassuring your friends that you’re there for them for any and everything even though you’re not right there next to them.”
- Reassure each other that you’re there, though not always physically.
Despite the distance, make sure your friends know that you’re there as much as you can be, though it is not always physical. The other three tips previously listed are a great combination of ways you can show your friends that you are there.
Communicate with them through random facetime calls, text messages, Snapchats, etc. Keep things interesting by switching things up like sending each other mail, gifts, and other little things that can change your friends’ vibes for the better. Stay in the know of what’s new with your friends and support them through everything. If your friend has a business idea or hobby they love like a clothing line, photography business, drawing, or writing support them heavy! Show them love and support them always!
The way my friends and I see it is when one friend is winning, we all are winning! Support is FREE, and friends support friends!
Now that I have dropped our gems, here’s a takeaway. Friendships aren’t always the easiest, especially with distance, but they aren’t impossible to maintain.
Remember, when people mean so much to you, distance means nothing!
