As someone who is invested in multiple long-distance friendships, I know a thing or two on how to maintain a healthy one. Having a friend that lives miles away is kind of hard I am not going to lie, but it is not impossible. I am going to give you my personal advice on how I keep these friendships live and well.

Before I go into my advice, I want to first talk about some of these so-called long distance friends I have. Tatiana has been one of my very closest friends since I was three years old. However, Tatiana moved away to Orlando right before we entered middle school. We are now both freshmen in college and we still keep in very good contact. I actually went to go see her a few weeks ago!

After Tatiana, I made some other really special friendships. Recently, I moved away from my hometown to attend college and left two very good friends behind. Brandon and Kiana made my high school years ones to remember and leaving them behind was a very tough part of my transition from high school to college. Everyone has a different path in life and this is when your skills on mastering long distance friendships come into play.

My first advice is to utilize all social media in order to keep updated on what is going on in your long distant friend’s life. Social media is a great tool to use in order to stay connected, so go on and take advantage of that. You will sound like a bad friend if you aren’t updated on basic things that go on in their lives.

My second advice is to set time aside to talk to your long distant friends. Whether it’s a phone call a week or a daily face time call, make time in your schedule to catch up with them. In my opinion, Face Time is when of the greatest innovations for long distance relationships. Being able to see and hear my friends even though they are miles away is really comforting.

My last advice is to never forget your long distance friends. It is likely that you will meet new people and make newer friends, but it is important not to forget your old ones.

With all that being said, I hope my long distance friendships last forever.