How to Keep in Touch with Old Friends
Keeping in touch with old friends will take some extra effort on your part, but the payoff is that you will keep communication open to keep the friendship alive. Modern technology makes it a lot easier to stay in touch with old friends, but old-fashioned modes of communication are useful, too. Here are six tips from Hall Honda Virginia Beach for staying in touch with old friends.
1. Telephone often
Depending upon your type of phone service, most rates aren’t that high anymore. If your friend is agreeable, try to have a regular time each week when you sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and catch up on the events of the week just like you did when you lived closer. When each of you makes talking to each other a priority, you can make it happen.
2. Master email
Assuming that you both have computers and are able to master email, this is a perfect way to keep in touch during the week. You can share photos and chat just as you would on the telephone. Using email does require some typing expertise, but communication with old friends is a great motivation to master this skill.
3. Add Skype™
Phone calls are great, but if you can afford the extra cost of buying a webcam, why not include a Skype call once in awhile? You can see each other laugh, or even cry, depending upon what you’re talking about. Seeing your friend’s emotions and how each of you changes physically adds another dimension to your long-distance friendship.
4. Consider social networking sites
Many people are turning to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Facebook allows you to share all sorts of information, and you can include other old friends too. If you both recognize each other’s family members as “friends,” you can keep up with what’s happening in each of your extended families as well. Twitter, on the other hand, is a lot like texting. Using it is less time-consuming for quick, newsy updates.
5. Don’t forget “snail mail”
It takes a little more effort to communicate with old friends via “snail mail,” but if modern technology has left you on the sidelines, using it is your best bet. One nice feature of mailing regular cards and notes is that your old friends will have them to keep. A cute card with a special message often finds a home on a refrigerator or desk. “Out of sight” does not have to mean “out of mind.”
6. Make a date
Just because you don’t live in the same city or town anymore is no reason why you can’t get together for an occasional visit. Even if it’s only once a year, old friends can re-bond instantly in the time it takes to hug each other.
Consider planning a vacation together, even if you both have families, or meet someplace for a weekend adventure. If money is tight, share travel expenses so that one of you can visit the other at their home. Rotate each year for a cost effective way to keep your friendship alive.
Figuring out how to keep in touch with old friends requires desire and dedication. It isn’t always easy if your life seems frantic enough already, but the payoff will be in knowing that you didn’t sacrifice the friendship of someone you love. Life doesn’t always send special people your way. When it does, don’t let them slip away.