Long distance friendships take more effort than what regular friendships are used to. They require more time for each other, understanding that the two of you won’t be able to constantly talk as much, and getting comfortable with the fact that they aren’t just down the road to pick up and go on a drive with.
As my first year of college is slowly coming to an end, I talked to some of my best friends who are in different schools now on their thoughts of long distance friendships.
Cassie, University of Central Florida (1,162.6 miles)
Erica: Would you say you have many long distance friends?
Cassie: Yeah, I would say I have four because you live in Connecticut, Claire lives in Georgia, Melissa lives in Washington and Morgenn lives in Germany.
Erica: How do you deal with having long distance friends in different places? What are the best and worst parts of it?
Cassie: It’s hard because I can’t see them everyday like I would like to, but we all have known that we have busy lives with work and school so we know that if we can’t talk everyday that it’s okay because we can still pick things off as we left them with no problems.
Erica: Do you have anything else to add about the topic of long distance friendships?
Cassie: It sucks, but it could always be worse.
Alex, Pennsylvania State University (317.8 miles)
Erica: Would you say you have many long distance friends?
Alex: Yes! I consider a lot of my best friendships “long distance.” However, only to a certain extent seeing as though nearly all of my closest friends go to school in the northeast area of the country (as do I). So while they may only be a few states away from me rather than millions of miles, I still think of our friendships as long distance.
Erica: And if a couple of your long distance friends were to surprise you tomorrow, how would you react?
Alex: I would be so excited to be able to show them the world I’m part of!
Jacob, University of Connecticut (55.3 miles)
Erica: Would you say you have many long distance friends?
Jacob: Yes!
Erica: How do you deal with having long distance friends?
Jacob: I deal with it by making sure I catch up with them when I can. FaceTime and texting makes that part easy.
Erica: What are the best and worst parts of having long distance friends?
Jacob: The best parts are that I know they are doing well and having fun wherever they are and the worst parts are that I can’t see them as often as I’d like.
Yuika, University of Connecticut – Stamford (51.1 miles)
Erica: Would you say you have many long distance friends or best friends?
Yuika: No, I have a pretty small group of friends which I’m fine with because they are all there for me no matter what.
Erica: Were you nervous parting ways for college with your group of friends?
Yuika: A little! I thought we weren’t going to talk as much because we were all going to do different things but we all still talk every day.
Erica: And if you could see any of your friends who are far away right now, what would you do?
Yuika: I would jump and hug them and get food with them.
Even if it’s 50 or 1000 miles in between, my long distance friendships have taught me to appreciate and love people even more than I already do. No matter how many phone calls, facetimes, or endless iMessage conversations we have, there’s nothing better than being able to see them in person after months and squeezing them like there’s no tomorrow. Physical love like that is just as amazing as the emotional love they give from miles away. At the end of the day, my heart is always rooting for my friends all the way from wherever I am to wherever they may be.
TIPS to make a long distance friendship exciting:
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Send a handwritten card!
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Send a care package <3
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Houseparty calls!
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Watch a movie or start a show together
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Surprise visits