Maintaining Long Distance Friendships

Maintaining Long Distance Friendships

Living in a part of the world that is not your birth country or state has its challenges. You have left behind old and deep friendships as well as close family members. Keeping in touch with loved ones is difficult when one is constrained by lack of time, huge distances and time zones. However here are some habits and forms of technology that can be really useful to maintain and nurture long distance friendships.

Postcards – This is a really great and quick way to keep in touch, when you’re waiting for the train, on a lunch break, waiting for your laundry etc… Write a postcard to a friend. We don’t often receive personal letters or cards anymore, because of invention of the Internet, so this is a great gift to receive. It shows that you have taken time to buy the card, go to the post-office etc.. It shows that you care enough to go through this effort. However there is a good trick to learn. Go and buy, say 20 postcards that you like, all different of course, so that you don’t send duplicate cards by accident. Buy stamps (don’t forget airmail labels) in one go, put stamps on each postcard and then pre-write all your friends and families addresses on them. Then keep them in your bag or car, that way, whenever you have a free moment at say a café, waiting for an oil change, on errands or whenever you think of them, you can write to them. It only takes five minutes at the most and all you have to do is pop it in the mailbox. Simple but effective!

Greeting Cards – Buy a box of greeting cards, buy a good quality set and have the insides blank, that way they are generic, so that they can be used for all occasions at a pinch. Buy stamps in advance (as well as airmail stickers). So whenever you have an emergency, like a birthday coming up, or want to just say hello, then they are on hand. Easy and effective and people still love receiving letters.

Photo sites – This is a good way to let your friends see what you have been up to. It builds a stronger connection when they see you in your new and current life and they can feel part of it. You can say more with photos and more than one person can view them. It also allows people to contact you if they see something interesting and maybe even entice them to come and visit you!

Video – As a present, you can buy a web cam for your friends or family. Skype is just but one of the free video or phone portals that allow you to speak to anyone, anywhere in the world from your computer to another computer. This is so brilliant, but it also depends on the Internet connection on both sides. It is a real treat to actually see your friends or family in real time and it makes it easier to talk with them. Kids love this too as they can relate more visually, as sometimes a voice on the other end of the line can sometimes be inhibiting.

Telephone – It gets pretty expensive calling internationally but finally there is one great service called Vonage that allows you to make free phone calls to Europe and other parts of the world for a small fee each month. It’s great to take the financial pressure of your friends and family so now there are no excuses to call. Line availability is good too. You now have the option to make shorter calls on a regular basis to keep in touch. Also your cell phone carrier normally allows you to make international calls at a low cost, but also asks for a monthly fee.

Email – You would think that with emails being so quick and immediate that we would use our email accounts more often to keep in touch. However after working at a computer all day, we often become repelled when writing personal emails. However a habit to create is to send short emails, maybe a joke, an update that goes out to more than one person. Set up a reminder to send an update email each month to your friends and family. They would sure appreciate to hear from you. Remember to use ‘bcc’ so that the person receiving your email does not know that its been sent out to others, that way it will feel more special to them.

Blogs – If you have time, then posting regularly to a personal blog website is probably the way to go. This way your friends and family can be informed when you have an update and they can look at your blog and see what is going on in your life, look at photos etc… It is your own personal website and people can also post comments and it creates your own personal community away from home.

Birthdays – These are special events to remember when being so far away. Being away keeps you out of the loop on birthday preparations and celebration, as well as hints from your friends. so set up reminders in your calendar program, such as Outlook, Entourage, iCal, iPhone or PDA device. Always set reminders a week in advance, as well as on the actual day so that you can call them. Having a weeks advance warning, you can use one of your greeting cards that you have on hand to send them a birthday card.

E-cards – If you forget to send a birthday card, then don’t worry you can send an e-card to their email address. There are still some free ones on Goggle and Yahoo, and in some cases you can set a time and day when it is to be sent, so that it arrives in their in-box on their actual birthday!

Gifts – In your favorite online shopping sites, set up your friends and family addresses in advance in your account so that they are on hand when needed. If it is an international outlet, go to the actual website of the country that your friend lives in so that you only have to pay local postage and shipping rates. Also whenever you are shopping online and see something that you know a friend would like, add the item to a wish list so that when their birthday comes up, you already have the gift picked out, so all you have to do is to click and pay.

Air miles – If possible try and collect air miles with an international airline, this is a very useful as flights are very expensive these days. So collecting air miles helps towards the costs of your flights back to visit your family or friends, or instead give them to a friend to come and visit you!