Long Distance Friendships

Most of us are used to hearing the term “long-distance relationship.” A long-distance relationship usually happens between two significant others who live states, or even oceans apart. These relationships are most commonly associated with romantic couples. If you heard someone say “long-distance relationship,” your first immediate thought would probably be a boyfriend and girlfriend separated by state borders. But I’m here to talk about a different kind of long-distance relationship. A long-distance friendship. When your best friend lives in a completely different state from you.

My own best friend moved away to the state of Washington when we were in the seventh grade. It was a sad goodbye to say the least, considering I wouldn’t see her in person again for nearly an entire year. Having a friend in a different state can be quite challenging. Our primary mode of communication is texting, which, while easy to carry a conversation through, lacks the real immersement and emotion of a face-to-face conversation.

Sometimes, we can go entire weeks without texting or calling. Of course, there are many concerns that can arise from this kind of friendship. You may start to worry that your friend will make new friends far away and forget all about you. You start to feel like you’re missing out on their life, a life you used to be a greater part of. This can be another downside to having a long-distance friendship.

There are a few perks, though. In some cases, having a long-distance friend can open up opportunities to make new friends and build new relationships while maintaining the old. “Make new friends but keep the old,” as the saying goes. It can also be fun to learn more about the state or even country your friend lives in. It all depends on how you and your friend choose to look at your situation.

I suppose that in many ways, a long-distance friendship is exceedingly similar to a long-distance romantic relationship. However, a romantic relationship has a whole other layer of commitment, trust, and love that a platonic friendship doesn’t. Romantic relationships face more of a threat with going long-distance because a large part of being in a romantic relationship depends on how close you feel to your significant other. The greater the distance, the more detached you feel from your partner, and the more the relationship will suffer.

Friendships don’t often deal with this level of stress. In fact, the majority of friendships aren’t even meant to last forever. Friends come and go, they are gained and lost as we move on through our lives. It may be painful to lose a friend, but you’d be surprised by how common this is, especially among young teens.

Of course, every friendship is different and varies in strength. Some friendships do withstand the strain of going long-distance and survive until the end of time. I may worry about where my long-distance friendship may end up, but I also know that this isn’t all bad. Friendship can carry on through the ages, whether our friends live just down the street, or right across the Pacific Ocean.