Food for Thought: Staying Connected Over the Summer

While everyone looks forward to the end of semester and the long summer ahead, sometimes it can mean being miles away from your closest friends. Long distance friendships can be hard to keep up with so here are a few ways to stay connected over the summer:

Keep Them Updated
Talk to your friends regularly, even about little things. This way, if you call them mid-July, you don’t have two months of little stories. Even if it seems uneventful, text updates throughout your week. It’s the little ways you connect that keep your friendship strong over state lines.

Don’t Just Text
Call! FaceTime! Google Hangouts or ooVoo or Snapchat live, just something. Have a real-time conversation with them. Texting is great, but conversations drag out and hold less meaning. This is a second best to face-to-face conversation.

Sync Screens 
You can still binge together! With sites like Netflix Party or Rabbit, you can sync up your shows and chat at the same time. Or go old school: call them on the phone and press play on the count of three. If you aren’t free at the same time, pick a show or movie for you both to watch and discuss later.

Send Mail
Find funny cards at the store and tuck in a sticker from your favorite coffee shop. Put together a care package of snacks (I added a cookie recipe below!) and pictures. Send a tangible reminder you are, in fact, a real person – not just a screen.

Laugh Long Distance
My best friend from home sends me every picture, video, tweet, or snap that makes her laugh. It keeps us close while we are both at school. When we meet back at home in the summer, even though we were on opposite ends of Pennsylvania, we’ve got a whole school year’s worth of shared jokes and references.

Plan Ahead
Send your roommate snaps of the rug you bought and tell her how pumped you are to live together. Plan out your dorm. Make plans with your friend group for the first week back to school. Have a little dorm warming party, or get a big group together to go mini golfing. Get excited to see each other again!

Meet in the Middle
If you can’t be away from your friends all summer, plan a trip to see each other! If you live relatively close, plan a day trip to a nearby city. If you’re too far, pick the friend’s house closest to everyone and stay for the weekend.

Here’s a quick recipes for chocolate chip cookies you can throw in a care package. They’re quick and easy, and perfect to share!

Five Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup almond butter
1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
½ cup packed light brown sugar
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Form into dough balls and space 1 inch apart on a lined or greased cookie sheet.
3. Bake for ten minutes or until edges are golden brown.
4. Let cool. Enjoy!