Nowadays, as a result of the advancement of technology, keeping in touch with friends has become easier than ever before. Awesome! Especially with those friends that are hundreds of thousands of miles away living in another country. Even better! It is true that the ease with which you can contact and connect with someone is a lot simpler, yet at the same time it is not.

I’m sure everyone at some point or another has found themselves moving away to another city/country and having to leave their group of friends behind, or there was that one friend that moved away. Regardless, you promise each other “we’ll talk everyday”, we’ll Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Viber…whatever it takes you’ll do it. Sadly, it’s not that easy. It’s not that you don’t want to keep in touch. You just find that it takes a LOT more effort and is way more time-consuming than what you expected and realised. Even if you do end up living in the same country and sharing the same time zone you will have to make the time to speak with the person(s). Otherwise it will not work. This is because the time you usually spent together going out is now spent with other people (and that is totally normal and how things should be). You cannot give up your social life and hanging out with people who live in the same place as you. That is why you will need to make extra time so that you will be able to talk. If you live all the way on the other side of the world (as I do) you will have a bit more coordinating to do. When you’re sleeping they’re awake and vice versa. Therefore, you have to make the effort to get up that little bit earlier in the morning or stay up that little bit later and lose that little bit of sleep.

It’s not impossible, but it’s not easy! Especially if you are trying to keep in touch with a number of different people. The important thing to remember and keep in mind is that you shouldn’t get offended or frustrated if they can’t talk to you for a day or two, a week or two or even a month or two. It just means that you have both been super busy. If you can’t talk then write. This way you will be able to keep each other updated on what’s happening in your life and be able to get back to one another at a time that is convenient for either of you to write. However, if the ‘silence’ (lets call it) continues for a year or two or more, well then you could start to think about re-evaluating your friendship. This is particularly so where you find that you are making all the effort. You are taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk, but they cancel on you last minute or forget that you even organised to speak that day. If you feel neglected, voice your concern, as the other person may not even realise that they are doing it. Honesty is the best policy.

I try to keep in touch, talk and write as often as I can, but I am not perfect and don’t always manage to do it well all of the time. There are days where you are just a bit off and need that extra time to yourself, which is totally fine. If that’s the case let your friend(s) know and reschedule or just write and let them know how things are going.

Apart from all the different social media platforms I love sending cards/postcards. I think it is a really great way to show the person that you are thinking about them. It’s an awesome surprise to receive a little colourful card (among all the bills and bank statements) and I really believe it can brighten up their day. It shows that you care as you have taken the time to pick out a card they’d like, write a message and send it to them. I sometimes also like to put little presents inside (usually something small that they can put in their room as a reminder of your friendship and love) for an extra personal touch and even bigger smile.

These are the most recent ones I picked up. Aren’t they just adorable!!