If you are living apart from your loved ones, friends, or family members but still want to maintain a close relationship with them that doesn’t involve just liking their Facebook posts, then you have come to the right place. Sure, you know all about how to keep in touch via emails, phone calls, or stalking their social media posts – but these methods do not quite give
the sense of intimacy and closeness you really want in your relationship.
There are many ways that you can go above and beyond than just having the age-old “How’s it going?” conversation if you are willing to put in the effort. After I finished college and moved to DC, most of my college buddies are spread all over the country and some even moved to another continent. Over the years, they keep moving around and all of us were living in different time zones. Despite that, we still managed to keep a close relationship and we could still do the things we used to do together like cooking, sharing our deepest thoughts, mixing drinks, etc.
Keeping in touch is absolutely crucial but it could be difficult if you are not creative about it. Therefore, by using our own personal experiences, we came up with a list of things you can do to stay in contact with your buddies which are more imaginative than what you will usually find on the internet.
8 Easy And Creative Ways To Stay Connected With Your Friends (Not Facebook)
A reading circle via Skype
When I was still in college, my buddies and I would hold a reading circle once a week at one of our homes. A reading circle is where we’d all sit in a circle drinking tea, eating snacks, and take turns reading something. It could be anything from a short story we wrote ourselves to poetries to an excerpt from our favorite book. It was something that I’d always look forward to because we’d always have fun, relax, and talk about something meaningful.
Now that we have all moved away from one another, it isn’t practical to do a weekly reading circle session anymore. However, we still hold semi-regular reading circles using Skype. Because of the time difference, we will all have to sacrifice a bit to find a middle ground that fits everyone’s schedule. But where there’s a will there’s a way and I am glad that we could still hold our tradition of reading circles which I still look forward to very much.
Long distance movie/ television date
I live in DC but my closest buddy, Shelly, lives all the way across the country in LA. Shelly and I are TV buffs and we used to watch all the same TV shows on Netflix together back in our college days. We still do that now using the help of technology. We’d set aside some time a few times a week to catch up on 13 Reasons Why and chat with each other on Whatsapp about the show in real time. The good thing about live chat is that I could always read our conversation again when I am feeling particularly down which would usually lift my spirits a bit. If you and your pals are not into typing, you could video chat with each other as you watch the show too – whatever works for you.
Start a private group blog page
Getting updated on your friends’ lives through their social media is not always the best as the posts are usually very general and impersonal. If you want to keep updated on a group of close friends’ lives, then you could set up a group blog page –
invitation only! On this private group blog page, you can post pictures and feeds with a more personal touch. Share with your close circle of friends the things you’d always talk to them about when you’re together.
If you are someone who needs some inspiration to start blogging, you can choose a theme for the blog. Me and my friends blog about cooking and drinking a lot. We often post recipes, give cooking tips or share our new drink concoction. It’s a great way for us to bond without worrying about the time difference. You can find a theme that everyone in your group likes and it could be anything, really, from music to knitting to makeup!
True friendship isn’t about being inseparable, it’s being separated and nothing changes.
Skype jamming session
So, the other day I started a Skype session with one of my best friends, Amy, and we both happen to have our guitars out. On a whim, we just decided to jam together and it was one of the most fun time I’ve had in a long while! She played her bass guitar and started off with a chord and I joined in with my electric guitar. You do not have to be a music genius to jam with your friends. After our first spontaneous jamming session, Amy and I often jam together long distance with whatever “instrument” we can get our hands on. We’ve tried jamming together with a kazoo, maracas, and even banged on some pots like a drum – it was extremely fun and full of laughter. Even if you’re not a music genius, there’s always some way to jam with your friends.
Send handwritten letters and personal postcards
Texting and emails can sometimes come across as cold and they just do not offer the same level of personal connection as you get from handwritten notes. I love the way Amy’s big and bold handwriting shows her personality or the unique way that Jamie dots her “i” with a short horizontal line. Receiving a handwritten letter from your friends in the mailbox is such a treat and I keep every single one that I got.
We also sometimes draw sketches on a card and send them to one another. I have once copied down a recipe and drew pictures depicting each of my friends mixing, baking, and even one holding up a giant rolling pin as if trying to smack someone (in good nature, of course). I have gotten some really funny hand-drawn comic strips from my friends with stick figures and that totally made my day. Sending handwritten letters or cards to your friends will definitely create many precious moments of fun and it will enhance your bond with one another.
Play online games together
Do not immediately assume that gaming is just for guys. This is the 21st century and there are just as many games out there for girls as there are for guys. One of the ways I hang out with my brother is playing World of Warcraft together. We would do quests, raids and share the same group of in-game friends. In fact, I don’t think I was ever as close to my brother as after we have started playing the game together.
If you and your friends are not hardcore gamers, there are
many casual games out there that you can play together for free. There are games you can play for free together like Draw With Friends or Lexulous which is a fun word game you can play online. You can even turn on your Skype during your gaming session and talk to each other too.
Cocktail drinking party
Who says you have to stop partying together when you are away from your friends? Thanks to Skype, my friends and I sometimes hold “drinking” parties at our respective homes. Before the cocktail party, we would first choose a cocktail we want to experiment with or just feel like drinking. We start the party by logging in to our Skype chat group and mix the drinks while talking to each other – exactly like being at a cocktail party together!
Get a diary buddy
If there is one person in particular that you really want to keep in touch with – and I meant really know every detail of what they go through day in day out – then you can be diary buddies. Both of you buy a notebook and start jotting down everything from what you ate for breakfast to your last thoughts before you go to bed at night. After a month, mail the diary to each other and read up! Continue writing in each other’s diary and swap it again after a month. Now, you’ll never have to miss out on the life of the person you are missing the most even when you live far apart from each other!
Do you have any other creative ways to
hang out with your long distance friends?
