Planning a long-distance move to a new city is an exciting time! Maybe you’re starting a new job or getting an exciting promotion. You’re packing and planning all the new furniture you’ll buy in your new apartment. You get rid of items you don’t want anymore and get ready to change your address officially.
It’s an exciting, scary, and, often, unsettling time because you don’t know what your future holds. So, after you make the difficult decision to move, what now? Now, it is time to break the news to your friends that you’re moving.
It’s easy to worry about what the future will hold for you and your best buddies. Change is hard. However, following our guide should be one less worry on your moving to-do list.
Breaking the News of Your Move to Friends
When do you tell those closest to you that you are moving? The sooner, the better. Most people don’t like change and need to process the news. Maybe your friends want to plan a going-away party or a night of drinks with your closest friends before the big move day.
Involving your friends in your upcoming move is a great way to bond and enjoy the last few weeks together. For example, you could host a moving party to buy everyone pizza and pack your apartment together. They may want to buy items you’re selling, such as furniture or exercise equipment, to make more room in the moving truck.
Ask them tips or advice from their moves. Also, they may have friends or family in the area you are moving to and could help ease the change by connecting you with some locals. Or they may have lived there themselves and know the best coffee shops and coworking spaces To check out. Your friends care about you and want to be a part of your life; make them feel like they can help you and ease the transition for both of you.
Is It Possible for Long-Distance Friendships To Work?
As cliche as it sounds, if your friends are indeed your friends, time and distance won’t put too much strain and pressure on your friendship. Your friendship will most likely change to some degree, but if you both genuinely care about each other and want to work to keep you to stay close, it will only change for the better.
Will it work for you and your friends? Only time will tell. It does take a lot of effort and work from both parties for a long-distance friendship to thrive. However, don’t be discouraged. Long-distance friendships are often the most rewarding because there’s no doubt they cherish having you in their life.
Be Open About Maintaining Your Long-Distance Friendships
It’s official: you’re moving. You packed your apartment. You and your friends vowed to text every day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t usually happen the way we have planned. Sometimes that is a good thing, and sometimes it’s not.
The future of your long-distance friendships relies on having a conversation about what you are both expecting before the moving van leaves the driveway. For example, do you both expect to FaceTime once a week? Does only one of you want to keep your Snapchat streak?
Have the conversation now before feelings get hurt and misunderstandings brew. Texting is difficult and often it can be misconstrued. It is better to talk about your expectations now than to have a minor issue come between you and your best pals.
Tips for Keeping Your Long-Distance Friendships Alive
You’re packed and ready to go to your new location. Now all you need is to say goodbye to your friends. You both know it’s been coming but haven’t wanted to admit it. The last few days before you move, it’s easy to wonder why you are moving and starting to doubt your decision.
New beginnings are always challenging and it’s easy for self-doubt to creep in. You are not alone! But don’t let thoughts of staying for your friends get in the way of your new adventure. If you both make your long-distance friendship a priority, your friendship will remain solid despite the distance.
Don’t give up on your new opportunities and friendships. It is possible to make new friends and keep the old ones. With every new beginning, however, there are many challenges. Hopefully, the following tips we at Lovebox have put together will help keep your friendships alive and well.
1. Schedule It
It won’t happen if it’s not scheduled, just like anything in life. Scheduling is one of the keys to successful long-distance friendships. We all live busy, hectic lives, and most of our long-distance friends live in different time zones, which leads to missed FaceTime calls and unanswered text messages.
It is hard to find time to sit down and chat or FaceTime, but pick a time that works for both of you to sit down and catch up and stick to it every week. A regular schedule to chat and catch up is what helps long-distance friendships thrive, not just survive.
Most of us have Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, and texting, but it isn’t the same. Some people don’t post a lot, and others post much about themselves or their families. Social media has its place in our lives, but it can’t take the place of a genuine, authentic community.
So, make sure you take the time to pick up the phone and have an honest conversation at a set time every week. Consistency guarantees you feel a part of each other’s lives. Plus, keeping the bond of our closest pals helps us feel more satisfied in our lives regardless of how far away you moved.
2. Plan Annual Getaways
Annual getaways are a great way for you and your long-distance friends to spend time together! You and your best friend may both want to get away from the craziness of life and just catch up.
Travel rewards programs and bonus offers make budget travel easy to plan. For example, if you both want to splurge, you could make an annual luxury trip with your best pal. It’s essential to discuss your combined budget before you go on the journey to ensure everyone has a good time and is not worried about how much it will cost them.
Maybe they’ve wanted to see your city and more about your life, or you may want to see their home. Perhaps you want to plan something you’ve never done, like go on a cruise together. Wherever you go, you’re bound to have a good time since the short time together is unique and rare.
3. Surprise Each Other
Who doesn’t like surprises? Maybe it’s your friend's birthday, or it's a special event in their life they’d be excited to share with you. Planning to surprise them at the event is a gift they will never forget, unlike sending a gift or card.
Starting new traditions such as surprising your friend when you meet with a handwritten letter shows they are on your mind. You could begin sending game day favors if you were roommates in college and want to root for the home team together. Whatever you choose, it's all the little things that show your long-distance friends that you care and that you are thinking about them.
4. Start a Blog Together
A great way to always have something to talk about with your long-distance pals is to start a blog together. Find a hobby you both want to share with the world and write a simple blog together. For example, maybe you both enjoy cooking and would like to share a recipe and a story with your followers.
If you both like traveling, you could share your tips for planning annual getaways with your long-distance friends. Writing about your travel budgeting skills or packing tips would be a fun blog for other long-distance friendships. In addition, you could compile a list of fun places long-distance friends could meet, such as glamping or beach resorts.
5. Send Your Long-Distance Friends a Customizable Lovebox
One of the unique opportunities to surprise your long-distance friends is our customizable Lovebox. It is the perfect way to send drawings, messages, or stickers in a connected messaging device that pairs with a free app to deliver your custom Lovebox.
You could get the original, fully customizable Lovebox in either black and white or color. For your friends that would prefer a magnetized messaging spinny that is great to display on a fridge or workspace.
6. Enjoy Your Favorite Pastimes Together
One of the best ways to stay connected with your long-distance friends is to find something you both enjoy and do it together. Physical distance shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the same pastimes together. Thanks to modern technology, almost anything is possible despite the long-distance.
Host a watch party if you both binge the same Netflix show or like the same movie genre. Use the chat feature to laugh at the same jokes or comment on your favorite lines. You could play video games if you’re both gamers. FaceTime while having a wine night or coffee break.
The opportunities for spending time together enjoying your favorite hobbies are endless. With a bit of creativity and imagination, if you find something you like, you’ll find a way to make it work long-distance.
7. Start a Journal or Scrapbook together
Writing stories or letters back and forth in a shared journal is a fun, creative way to share life experiences with those who live far away. For example, you could mail a small notebook with fun designs, and after each person writes a couple of pages, you send it back to the other person.
Another fun way to stay creative is to start a scrapbook with little snippets from both of your lives. For example, you could share polaroid pictures or concert ticket stubs. In addition, you could add anything to the scrapbook that shows your long-distance friends what you have been involved with since you saw them last.
What To Say When You Don’t Know What To Say to Your Long-Distance Friends
What happens when you’re trying to stay connected, but you’re finding you’re running out of things to say to each other? You can only reminisce for so long about the past until it gets old. It’s also hard when you don’t know much about their current life and friendships because you moved away.
One of the best ways to overcome the challenge of finding enough in common is to chat about new experiences you want to have together. For example, the trip you’re planning all year or the book you’ve both been wanting to read. Maybe you want to start a virtual book club and chat each week about your favorite parts of the book.
Are Your Long-Distance Friendships Working?
After a few months of texting and occasional phone calls, you’ll start to see what will work best for you and your friends. For example, you might find out that you are going in different directions than your long-distance friends. And that’s okay!
With so many opportunities and modern ways to communicate, you might find that you are closer than ever because you both are intentional in your communication. Either way, after a few months, it’ll be good to evaluate your friendships and see what is best for you.
Long-Distance Is Possible
Your long-distance friendships can thrive through openness and communication. Be sure to tell your friends early in your moving process, so you will both be ready for the change.
It is possible to grow even closer than ever through scheduling time together, planning getaways, surprising each other, starting blogs or other favorite pastimes, and sending a customizable Lovebox. It is possible to maintain and keep your long-distance friendships for many years to come with the right tools.
Sources:
How to manage a long-distance friendship | NY Times
Long-Distance Friends: Why It's Important to Maintain Them | Time
How Long-Distance Friends Stay Connected Across The Miles | HuffPost
