Friendship isn’t defined by how often you see the person or how often you talk to them, but in my experience experience, going from spending every day with my best friend in high school to only seeing her during breaks from school, it can be difficult to feel like you’re a part of their life and keep in touch with them.
Here are a few things I’ve learned about having a best friend who lives 273 miles away.
1. Your bond grows stronger.
Even if it’s just texting or snapchatting randomly throughout the day, it’s always such a nice feeling to know they’re thinking about you and want to keep you updated about what’s happening in their life. I personally can’t go a day without snapchatting my best friend; she’s the only person I want to tell things to, even if she’s four hours away from me. I even constantly find myself sharing stories of all the things we’ve done together to my new friends, and reminiscing about all the memories we have together.
2. You can still find things to do together even though you’re apart.
Perhaps you guys watch the same TV show and can call or text about the latest episode or season. I watch a lot of the same shows as my long-distance bff so we always have shows to talk about. We’ve found common ground in music as well; she’s one of my favorite concert buddies, especially because she puts up with my horrible air drumming in the car. Even if you just send each other funny videos or pictures on Instagram, little things like that make a world of a difference because it gives you more things to talk about daily.
3. You always have something to look forward to when you go home.
You may or may not know how long you’ll be apart from each other, but nothing beats when you do get to see your best friend after going months without them. You may talk every day or only every once in a while, but the beauty of having a true best friend is that you’ll always be able to pick up where you both left off and it’s like nothing changed.
4. You make new friends knowing your best friend will still always be around.
Honestly, it can be kind of a downer when you hear about all of the fun times your bff has in college with a whole new group of friends, but you have to remember if you were really their best friend you’d be excited that they want to share their new friends with you or talk to you about their new group! It’s okay to be a little jealous over the new friends they’ve made, but don’t let that ruin your past and current friendship with them. Knowing that my best friend is so happy and comfortable where she attends college means the world to me, because I know someone else is taking care of her just like I would if I was with her.
5. You establish a forever friend.
No matter how much it sucks not being able to see your best friend everyday, you should cherish every moment you get to talk to them. My bff is the only person I still avidly talk to from high school. If I didn’t have her, I have no clue where I would be right now. Our friendship can outlast anything, and I’ve never been stressed about us growing apart because she’s one of my favorite parts of going home. From going to concerts, hockey games, fangirling together, and having long talks together in the car, I know that she’s forever my person and our friendship is a forever thing. She’s been my rock, and my other half for so long now that I can’t imagine my life moving forward without her in it.
Though long-distance friendships can sometimes be complicated and hard, you realize you have a soul mate, no matter if they’re 3,000 or 273 miles away. For that, you should be forever grateful.