90%+ of my Facebook friends go from colleagues/school friends to long distance friends anyway.

No not anymore technology now a days is much easier to connect to the other side of the world.

a long distance relationship I had started in 1976 and it really ramped up when the internet came along. Before that it was 2 letters per year, no phone calls.....

yeah i had one with someone i met while up north fishing on a friend of mine's boat for the summer,, i left in october and came home and had a large phone bill for a minute,, following july i sold my last small boat to a friend up north near where she lived,, so boat went north, girlfriend her daughter and dog came back,,, oh, i am not old enough to not have phones,, i mean we talkin that alexander bell guy,, i'm way younger than him😁

Yes. I had a good friend who I have known since second grade and we used to talk on the phone all the time after school and on weekends. With email nowadays, it's easier in case my old friends change their address and phone numbers. Talking on the phone is fun, but email is better because it saves paper and money. Edited 02-Jul-24 07:14am

No

IMO not worth persuing

I’ve kept in touch with several friends from my former life when I lived in the same town. I see them every year when I visit or when they visit. But most of the time, we keep in touch by text. Three of these friends are male. I never had a relationship with any of them; we’re just platonic friends. We talk about all sorts of things: politics, our Australian rules football teams, life, relatiinships etc. Two of them are married and I know their wives and get along well. There’s never any flirting or anything like that. It’s nice to chat to people from my old life. And hear the male point of view.

Ok

I was 19 and met a boy on a cruise,I lived in Brisbane and he -Perth This was 1984.We talked on the landline phone using std and it costed a lot! Wrote letters and we went on a holiday together 6 months later, I moved 4 months after that to be with him and married in 1985.We were together for 39 years before he died last year. I think it worked.

I still keep in contact by emails and phone calls with two special friends I went to school with in the 1960's - we now live in different countries and I have not seen one since 1977 and the other since 1998. We still have a lot in common.

I did write letters an send cards I must of been in my 20s so much nicer now its to easy to do it over the phone

Yes, I have had a long distance friendship with my old neighbour who lived next-door to me when I lived in America way back in 1979. They moved to Hawaii and we wrote to each other, then they moved back to the mainland and we still kept in touch even if it was only a card at Christmas. It was great when Facebook came along as we could post photo's etc. but then without warning my long time lovely friend passed away. She was being treated for back problems when it was discovered she had stage 4 lung cancer despite never being a smoker. She went downhill very quickly before we read she had passed away. We waited awhile before we facetimed her husband to find out what had happened. It was all very sad for her family, she was very artistic and did beautiful paintings, she was also a very nice person who went out of her way to make Aussies feel welcome in her country. I still think about her and miss her Facebook posts.

yes many years back, I had a girlfriend, who was originally from Adelaide, I met her in Sydney & then she moved back to Adelaide & we continued contact by snail mail & occasional phone calls & gradually it tapered off. The relationship ended within the next 12/18 months.From this experience, I can say that it is hard to have a long-distance. ☺relationship

Ive a friend, for about 40 years, she regularly writes me long letters through the post, I am a bit lazy, but I keep writing back to her.

I was in Pioneer Girls when I was a kid and got my first Pen pal from the Pioneer Girls magazine at age 8 and 9. It built from there and by the time I was a senior in high school I was writing to 100 people. My dad used to put a roll of stamps in my Christmas stocking each year. I was always riding my bike to the post office. I also wrote to some of my relatives and got the most interesting letters back from my great aunt about life on the farm in South Dakota. I did get meet several of my pen pals who I continued to write to as an adult. One of them was from Germany.

thinking of this topic, no I didn't. But there where times before I was even in school when we might write a letter to a cousin just a few hours away, or sometimes a much longer distance, they where not pen pals just 1 off kid games, that we did more than once, and our parents still had to pay for the stamps and we didn't totally understand it. It was still fun for us. though I'm sure there may have been a 1 time penpal I kind of wrote to for a 1 time letter, just a school thing not a friend.

I had many pen friends (as they were called in the past). I have maintained our friendships now but not so frequent.

Growing up I had a lady friend who came to visit us often from Baltimore, Md, I always wrote to her every month.

No

When I was a teenager living in Southern CA, my best friend moved to WA state when her military dad got transferred. We wrote for awhile, but then lost contact. Today I mail out 10 cards every week full of scriptures about Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the good news of his Kingdom coming here to the earth! Matthew 6:10 ;-D

Yes but I used a tape recorder. we both used to send a tape and then reply back after reading the response. After a while our jobs got in the way as we were working and studying at night. My tapes went to New Guinea, his came to Sydney.

Yes still have two long distant friendships and family. Only now send them Birthday and Christmas cards with a short message in them. But always contacting them via phone call, Messenger or Facebook.

yes I still write letters

i like to send greeting cards with a special hand written message inside besides what the card reads. Sometimes that is more meaningful than an email or text.

Yes of course and I still prefer written letters and cards as they are more personal. However, email and text messages are convenient. I have had friends since I was a young teen and I am now in my mid 70's and we have lived 1000's of miles apart for many of those years but have kept in touch and seen each other maybe 6 or 7 times over that period of time in person.

No.

Yes ..we use to write each other and then we lost touch of one another until we find each other on Facebook..

I no longer write letters because my writing has deteriorated so much I sometimes have trouble reading it myself. One of my school friends moved overseas so we "chat" on facebook messenger, the same with a lady I worked with.

Yes - kept several friendships going and still have them today! Even though electronically it is easier, I find I run out of time and then just send a quick note v- not like the newsy letters of years gone by!

Yes I had a pen pal when I was in the elementary school l. It was fun exchanging letters. Thou technology has made it easier but I still miss those days and wish I could get a good penpal once again

Whenever my wife and I go away on trips we always send letters to our grandchildren. they are the only letters they ever receive.

Long distant freindships are great! I have a few. I used to enjoy the fun of getting letters by regular mail though.

We did - was friends from 30 years ago. Internet came along & he never got into it. One day he had to use it for work & never looked back. Emails back & forth after we moved away until his only son's wife fell pregnant & we never heard from him again. Turns out he was upset because we didn't congratulate them on their only grandchild but we never knew about it! He didn't tell us he had facebook so daughter found him & explained we didn't have fb, which he knew, & asked why he didn't let us know about the baby. He replied he had put it on fb so everyone would know. Daughter reminded him we don't have it but he replied she did so she should have told us. Yes she probably should have but daughter was in very long difficult (lots of legal problems) process of buying 1st home & honestly forgot. He didn't reply when we wrote paper letters so lost touch - all over fb post. Internet is good but also ruins friendships. Having said that, if not for internet (not fb), I would never have the other best friend of 15 years & counting whom I will finally be meeting face to face soon - and cannot wait to do so.

I've never been much of a letter writer. I used the landline phone to make long distance calls.

I had an American pen-pal when I was at school & we used to write to each about once a month. Her name was Donna Gail & when i had my second daughter we named her Donna, a name I still love. I also wrote to my friend back in England who was my bridesmaid when I married. Her husband was best man. We had been writing to each other for over 50 years then suddenly it petered out as they do. I still have my Brother electric typewriter which I bought from Myer about 45 years ago. I also have a change of typeface from the standard to italic which was very handy in typing letters. To write to my friend(s) I would type on an airmail letter.

I have had a long distance friendship and we maintained it because my friend used to come and visit with me and her other family members that lived in that city. We used to send birthday and Christmas cards and call each other every now and then. Email and Facebook really helped with staying in touch. We have been long distance friends for around 38 years now. We talk less now though - life is busy and she is now a grandmother. We were very good friends and house shared before she got married. We went to the same kindergarten, same schools all the way through then shared houses as friends.

Yes and still do though I made the mistake of dropping a mate in it by telling the Tech College that he invented several different aerials and knew far more about Radio Propagation than anyone else in the world. To them he was just some sort of Radio Nut that had all these weird aerials sticking out of his roof and knew nothing even though he was across the road from them and used to teach at the place years previously.

No I have never had one,but I think it would be nice write to someone like a pen pal

No but like to have one

Yes, I still write letters because not everyone is hooked up to the latest, and and not always online, greatest verbal communicating gadgets.

I have had pen pals since the late 1980s and yes, i am still in contact with my very first pen pal as well as a few who i have been writing to from the mid 90's. We tend to keep in contact via FB now, but still write the occasional letter when we have time or when we want to be nostalgic.

When younger I had what we used to call a pen friend … we used to write to each other for a few years but then I think we lost touch after both of us got married and had kids …. I wonder now and again where she is and what’s happening in her life

the 2 young grandsons and I, every couple of months write a letter draw some pics, then google an address, somewhere in the world, and send it, It is a bit of fun but we have had some replies, and we still keep in contact i guess it is a matter of finding the right person or people, but they have returned mail some even sent gifts

Yes I did when I was a kid and into my young adulthood. Yes sadly letter writing has vanished a lot. I have decide recently I am going to write a letter to an Aunt as she lives in the UK. I miss writing letters and emails are so much quicker of course. They just don't seem to be as personal as a letter. I wrote letters to my Granny and Grandad as they lived in the UK too I was quite young when they passed so I then wrote to an Aunty and she past another Aunty etc etc until I ran out of Aunties sadly.

Yes, but was a long time ago - before 1984! That was the year I discovered Email through a DEC mini computer. That was the mainframe at my university. I don't write letters much any more, but I do send hand written condolence notes.

Yes I did but they were called "pen pals". However these days I only write and sometimes send cards for special occasions.

yes quite a few. I am still in contact with a couple of them

I'm trying to track down an old friend and thought at my great niece's holy communion that I'd found a family connection. No such luck. I can't even find her ex husband.

Ive been in contact with my long time friend in the British army we first met at school in the UK in 1950 and we would write to each other on a regular basis, we now use the internet and hope to continue until i am in my coffin

For sure much has changed over the years concerning communicating with friends.

I have had a penfriend from USA and we lost communications,BUT thru Messenger we realized that we were still around.He was in the news media BUT is now involved with a large hospital in Columbus Ohio USAI also found another friend in Qld that I knew over 50 years ago and I am now his POA.

Alba thank you it is all possible to have a distant penpal

I have learned the Pro and Con of both. Phone is great tho experience 4gotten. Written form allows you going back 2 relive it. So 4me, its 4 memory sake.

Simple handwritten letters speak louder than technology

You would think yes but I’ve lost 2 friends to distance

I maintained a friendship through letters when my closest friend went off to college. The friendship lasted until she died. Precious memories,

Of course. In high school when most of my friends went off to school or in the Armed Services. I am still good friends with a couple of people, however I haven’t written a letter in years in this age of technology.

Sorry, I never had a long distance friendship, the reason why I m saying that because you and your friend and the friendship you and that person had for a long period of time, you and that person friendship may fall part, when you do think about the good and bad times, and if something happy or sad ever happened you can see each other because both of you are in different states.

No. I do regret not taking my French teacher's offer of hooking everyone in the class with a French pen friend. When we had a 20 year reunion, the smart ones who took her offer were still communicating and their knowledge of the French language was much much better than mine.

Never happen

Yes I was working in the NT in a remote area in nursing home for aborigial people but it was 1000s of miles from home then I moved back to victoria and still keep in touch with those I worked with I was 49years old then now I am 73 always sent letters to my freinds at there home address now we still send letters and cards and also speak on the phoneEdited 01-Jul-24 07:41am

Scammers love it.

Long distance friendships are easy. Correction we didnt send to nearest post office we sent to friend and it went via post office. just as today you dont send to internet you go via internet. We started friendship in primary school 70 years ago, Those friendships last because we had to work at them. I had 3 pen friends in Australia, we still write, we visit and share in each other's lives, Others were close friends and moved away or oversea. WE WRITE LETTERS because our friendships are important, and we don't want SOCIAL MEDIA controlling our lives.

When my mother was in grade 6, I think it was, her class was asked to write a letter to a student in Scotland. A girl named Janet wrote back and then for the next 60 years they wrote letters back and forth, sent birthday and Christmas presents, and visited their pen pal's countries throughout those 60 years, until my mom died. This lady sent money over for the funeral and I bought a nice plant which I still have over 19 years later. It was a very special relationship and I always thought it was rather cool. Edited 01-Jul-24 21:57pm

maintaining long distant friendship, is quite difficult, not as jucy as the ones you have close by

My best friend lives 10 hours away and we still write old school and it's been 8 years now 🙏🏼

I have a long distance friendship with two friends, but sometimes as fun as it might be. I wonder sometimes what value to place in those friendships. When I was .uch younger, I had email long distance friendships. Instead of WhatsApp or social media. Email can be just as satisfying as letter writing.

Having a Pen Pal was a hobby in my teenage years but now a days its hard to find one... I have been waiting for a pen pal for last one year but no luck

I had a pen pal I think I was 10 maybe

i wrote letters to my grandmother when she was alive and to a friend who was in the military.

Do not have this type of friendship

I never been in a long-distance friendship before, but I should try being a long-distance friendship someday.

I love long distance secret friends

When I was about 13 years old, my best friend, Patti, who lived next door to me, moved away from me. We continued to keep in touch by telephone and writing letters back and forth for several years, until she got married and moved across the country with her husband who was in the military.

I've had a long distance relationship, it lasted for about 6 months. We were friends but just stopped communicating.

yes.

had many family member's and great friends that we would stay in touch with writing or calling on the phone,haven't had much since I moved from fla,wash,calif,idaho, been too busy,hahaha!

Yes I used to write lots of letters growing up , had a pen pal in Toronto we used to send each other mixed tapes!

I wrote to a German Pen friend for over ten years. I still have some of his letters. I lost touch when I started working. I treasured this contact and I wish I knew how life turned out for him. Computers can never replace those precious handwritten letters.

Well I live in california and have a few long distance relationships with my aunts uncles and also cousins. I write letters on paper and also uses the computer and phone to type my letters but my relatives loves my written letters better because theres pictures.

Anybody who lived before we had telephones would be dead by now...sorry to break the news to you....but it is important that you tried and almost explained what a letter was...well done Edited 01-Jul-24 01:51am

I still have long distant friendships via snail mail and have had them for 50 years or more without the aid of technology. Long distatnce relatuonships however were an entierly different thing

Yes I had a long distance friendship with a dear friend who travelled quite a bit after a divorce. I sent her a letter to her cottage in northern Quebec for years. Letters were taken to India where she was at the time. She answered my letters within 2 months time. For years we wrote to each other. Then I lost touch with her after sending letters to 3 last known addresses. The letters were returned by the post office. Letter writing is wonderful to do. I write letters to my grand children now. They love getting mail and sending me postcards. My son in law gives me a letter at Christmas that is full of wonderful thoughts and is funny. Treasures to keep.

I had a Japanese pen pal about 50 years ago but after an earthquake never heard from her again. I currently write to a friend in America who hasn't got a computer but haven't heard from him for some time so will be writing to him very soon. Hope he is still around. There has occasionally been a gap in our letter-writing so I'm not too worried about it.