When all your friends live far away, your phone is always blowing up with texts. On social media, it seems like you have a thriving social life. You’re either being tagged in a memory or mentioned in a post or are busy swapping inside jokes in a group chat.
But in real life, everything is different.
When all your friends live far away, you have no idea what to do with yourself on the weekends. There are a million concerts you would love to see and restaurants you would love to test out, but you don’t want to go on your own, because you know it would be much more fun with your best friends. You end up missing out on so many things that you would have done if your friends lived nearby because you have no one to invite out with you. You have no one local to act as your plus-one.
When all your friends live far away, it’s easy to get jealous. When you see them post pictures on social media with the friends they get to see every single day, it feels like you’re being left out. It feels like you’re being replaced. It feels like you’re being punished, simply because you don’t happen to live in the same location as them. You know you’re being ridiculous and you want your friends to be happy, but it’s still hard to see them living life without you.
When all your friends live far away, it’s hard to feel as close as you used to when you were seeing each other in person. Even though you’re happy to spend hours texting them, there are days when you want to sit on your couch with them, drink wine, and watch movies. Or when you want to get your nails done together. Or when you want to go out on the town together. Talking to them over the phone is nice, but it’s not the same as when you’re hanging out face-to-face.
When all your friends live far away, the loneliness can be hard to handle sometimes. It’s a strange feeling because you know you’re loved. You know you’re lucky to have people who care about you. But it sucks that you rarely get to see them, unless it’s over a video call. It sucks that you’re destined to spend most of your weekends alone. It sucks that you need to go out and make new friends, even though you already have the best friends you could ask for.
When all your friends live far away, you never feel like you have enough time with them. When they come to visit, there are a million things you want to do, a million things you want to show them, a million things you want to tell them — but you always run out of time. Your vacations with them are always too short. However, as much as it hurts to be apart from them again, you’re glad you have them. You’re glad you’ve met people who are worth your long-distance friendships. 
