Connections

So Close, So Far Away — Tips on keeping long-distance friendships going strong.

Talk Time — Do the things you used to do together but via phone. Flip through the same fashion or celebrity magazine together and swap thoughts and gossip as if you were in the same place.

Make it Short but Sweet — Make it a point to send a short e-mail every week with news, funny anecdotes and random thoughts. And attach digital photos (of you, your kids, your vacation) as often as possible.

Just because a good friend lives halfway across the country doesn't mean your relationship has to suffer. With a little effort and thought, you can keep treasured friendships tight. Some ideas:

Don't wait until birthdays roll around. Anytime you come across something that your friend might like or that might make her laugh, send it! Some ideas: a DVD of a sitcom you watched as teenagers, a photo of the two of you, a cool book, a box of Pepperidge Farm® cookies.

You don't have to be in the same room to crack each other up. Forward jokes or funny articles from the web. Email the lyrics to a terrible song your friend used to love. Dig up an old photo of her with an embarrassing haircut and pop it into an envelope.

If your friend lives far away and traveling to her town is inconvenient, pick a location in the middle for a reunion (or a city that would be fun for both of you—like Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami). Plus, the chance to spend a few days exploring a new place together will create great memories for years to come.

Luckily we live in an age in which technology makes long-distance connections much easier to maintain than in the past (thank you, e-mail!). Some other ideas:

RECIPE SHARING

Send along a link to a great recipe you found online. Or, you and your friends could all make one recipe and compare results at the end, including photos.

WEB VIDEOS

See something amusing, weird or outrageous? Email the link to your friend.

PHOTO-SHARING SITES

If you have a lot of photos, create an account on a photo-sharing website and upload your pics. You and your friends can add comments on each other's photos. ("Hey, love your skirt!")

ONLINE SHOPPING

Find a cute t-shirt, new CD, interesting book or hard-to-find food item on the web, and with a few key strokes, you can have it zipped off to your friend. Set up wish lists on shopping sites so and your friend can buy each other little presents whenever the urge strikes.

BLOG BUDDIES

Keep a group of friends updated by creating a blog they can visit and comment on, or create one that you can all maintain together.

TEXTING AND CAMERA PHONES

Need a trusted second opinion on a pair of shoes you're considering buying? Click a shot of the shoes and send it with a text message to your friend. It's almost like shopping together.

WEBCAMS

New webcams make it possible to have a genuine face-to-face interaction with friends—so high-tech yet intimate. So you could get an honest "How do I look?" check-in on your new jeans from 2,000 miles away!