Being an immigrant is hard. You have to live many painful experiences and situations you have never imagined. One of the hardest is to live far from my friends and family. Indeed, you do not need to be an immigrant to live far from your loved ones, but in my case, that is the reason. My experience started before the day I left Venezuela. It began the day my friends decided to leave our country.
Of course, I have new friends, but one of the best joys of life is to have a long conversation with someone from your past. By now I have learned how to stay in touch with my oldest friends even though they live in remote places such as Australia, England, China or Chile.
I want to share my best tips to keep in touch with my friends.
1. Birthdays.
I am obsessed with birthdays. Since forever, I always call, text or visit my friends and family for their birthdays and they must contact me on mine. It is not about the presents; it is about the fact we must talk at least two times per year. Birthdays are the best excuse to talk. Today it is even easier because apps like Facebook remind us of our friend's B-Days.
I always call or send a voice note to my friends. It is not only a congratulation; it is the chance to summarize the last months of my life and ask them what happened with them.
2. Memes and jokes.
Sometimes we cannot have deep conversations. Every day is significant and full of stories; I am not a Kardashian. One of my techniques to keep on touch is to send memes or jokes. The key here is to be selective. I do not send the same joke to everybody. Each person has his/her style, hobbies and favorite TV shows and movies; then, I know what to send to whom.
3. Voice notes.
I love voice notes. My favorite app is "WhatsApp," and I can send a long voice note (over ten minutes). They are helpful because I can send some words to my friends and the voice notes give them the chance to answer me when they can. A call implies that both of us must be only talking, but I can send a voice note while I am driving or having my daily walk.
4. Social Media.
Social media is the best for long-distance-friendships. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook give me the chance to know the daily routine of my friends. I can see if they go to a restaurant, to the movie theater, to the gym or what their new hobbies are. I use the chance to make comments about their posts and ask questions about their activities. I cannot imagine how hard it was to keep your friends two decades ago when we only had letters or calls.
5. Traveling.
Traveling is the more difficult one. I know we do not have the money or the time to travel, but anytime I can I go to visit my friends. Because of my friends, I have gone to cities I never dreamed of visiting.
Long-distance-friendships suck, but life is not easy, and we have to work hard to keep loving and taking care of our loved ones no matter what.
