Wannabe Writer's Ink

Wannabe writer with hobby of art. Stay and you'll glimpse a small piece of my heart.

Long Distance Flavor

I have a lot of friends that are too far off to visit often, and for a large portion of my life it was that way with family as well. I have had good and bad experiences trying to keep in touch with people in unique ways, but I want to start a running list of Flavor. What I mean by Flavor is little unique touches that can brighten a friend's day. It doesn't have to be the main course of the friendship, the main course is perhaps best served by being a simpler offering like a set time to video chat. It should be something that is sustainable over the long-term, Flavored by unique little touches.

Gentle warning: Don't make flavor items a core and frequent offering. That's a fast track to burnout.

Since I don't want to lose track of these Flavor ideas, I'm setting them down here. I have my own, but I also snagged several from online lists that were relevant to me. The compilation is as follows:

  • Syncing a show or movie to watch online together. Depending on the watchers' multitasking abilities, chat about it on the side in a separate chat or in a chat provided by the streaming service.
  • Send Tiny Arts. Mini embroideries, small and simple paper paintings, or little painted wiggle toys. There are even tiny canvases for paintings too. Little sketches on paper or ink drawings are good too, or tiny crochet critters. Origami. Little bead-and-wire people. Digital art is a good option as well, though not as compatible with Snail Mail.
  • Mini care packages. That bag of candy you know they like. Small shiny things. That thing from that fandom you both enjoy--that you've already probed to see if they have. A new flavor of wine. A 2-day shipment of home-made cookies. Weird local things they don't have in their area. Stickers. Pressed flowers.
  • Large care packages. A warm blanket. A silly hat. A gadget they mentioned they were hoping to get at some point that you've probed about to be sure they haven't gotten yet. Be careful, consider carefully if this will become clutter or be welcome and useful.
  • Video chat over coffee, either at home or at a coffee shop.
  • Get involved in an online game where you can "visit" or play rounds together. World of Warcraft, Animal Crossing, and Portal 2 all have different levels and types of multiplayer going for them.
  • If you write, cobble together a song, poem, or a story for friend. If it's a story, mail it a few paragraphs at a time. Compose the story this way, never being sure what will happen until you sit down to write the next few paragraphs. Alternately, they send YOU the next few paragraphs, and you build on it in return. Snail Mail and hand-writing preferable for this option.
  • Build a joint Spotify playlist full of songs you'd like to show each other.
  • Take turns on book recommendations that both people will read within an agreed on time. Take care with your estimations and be willing to be honest about your constraints or even disinterest if you try the book and find you don't have time, or you really dislike it for some reason. But this can prompt interesting conversation.
  • Take on personal growth projects together. Each person chooses an area they'd like to grow in, and together you brainstorm concrete ideas about how each person could reach their goals. Don't forget to encourage each other along the way.
  • Play board games together over Zoom. Chess? Munchkin? Ransom Notes? If two people have a copy of the same game, it can be done. Digital platforms are also available for many of these but they tend to charge and don't always work well.
  • Share at-home exercises. Planking, wall-pushups, crunches, calisthenics and more. You don't necessarily need exercise equipment to exercise, and it can be good accountability to do it with someone else.
  • Have you come up with a new recipe lately? Definitely share it. Potentially via snail mail, but if a blog post or email is better, definitely include photos. Alternatively, you could also cook it while chatting over Zoom.
  • If they like tea or coffee, mail them totally random tea or coffee samples.
  • If you both have similar gifts (writing, art, etc) have a joint "work" session via chat or Zoom and swap results at the end.
  • Bible study or devotional. Also highly dependent on when either of you has time and if you share beliefs, but sitting down and considering a short devotional or a chapter of the Bible (ADD TEA OR COFFEE) is a good option as well.
  • Mail goofy photos of yourself making faces at them.