When the world is so large and there are as many people as there are here, it doesn’t make that much sense that we limit ourselves to friendships and relationships within our proximity. Sure, we may not have the opportunity to visit distant cities often, but who says a friendship can’t exist over long-distance? Who says you have to meet your friends in person in order to be friends with them? Though, just because our friend is far away, doesn’t mean we don’t have to put work into this relationship like we would with any other relationship. In fact, there are a few things you can do to make sure you’re being a great penpal! So, keep on reading to find out how to be the coolest pen pal ever and to take some pen pal letter ideas with you!

Be consistent

Like any friendship, if you want the relationship with your pen pal to last, you’ll have to be consistent. You don’t necessarily need a particular schedule that you’ll follow along with while writing, but making sure to reply within a timely matter can mean the world to whoever you’re writing to. When you’re consistent with your penpal, you leave the opportunity to build your relationship up with more writing, more trust, and more excitement when you see that envelope in the mail.

Send little goodies

Yes, postage limits what you can send to your penpal for a reasonable price, but there are TONS of cute little goodies you can include in your letters to your penpal. Items like pressed flowers, tea bags, handmade jewelry, and candy are awesome little goodies that will brighten your pen pal’s day upon opening your letter. These little goodies are thoughtful and show that you really put a bit of extra effort into this letter to your friend. Not to mention, they are also great ways to relate to what you’re talking about in your letters. Maybe you went to a cool new tea shop and thought you’d send some to your friend. Things like this help bridge that distance that exists between pen pals.

Use the internet to your advantage

If your pen pal has internet access, there are lots of ways for the two of you to get closer online without diminishing your letter-writing basis of the relationship – because, let’s face it, the internet could never compete with letter-writing when it comes to charm. BUT there are some fun things on the internet that you can reference or share with your penpal. Maybe you can make them a Spotify playlist and include the Spotify code in one of your letters. Maybe you can find a bakery in their area to send them treats on a special day for them. In a lot of ways, the internet is connecting people near and very very far, take advantage of that when writing to your pen pal!

Include some art

Are you an artist? Well, throw in a little something something for your penpal. Drawings, paintings, weaved bracelets, and other small, light crafts are fair game! If you don’t want to stuff your envelope with more goodies, consider drawing on the page you write on! This can really bring a letter to life and add some character to what you send to your pen pal. It can be hard to find something tangible for long distance friends to hang onto, and art is one of those great things!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Speaking of things your friend can hang onto, include a picture of yourself when writing to your penpal! If you don’t want to include one with every letter, at least consider including a photo every once in a while. Polaroid or disposable camera pictures are great options because they tend to already be printed out. Including pictures will make you and your pen pal feel so much closer to one another, trust me!

Be vulnerable

And on the note of being close with your pen pal, you’re going to want to open up and be vulnerable with them if you want to create a close and lasting relationship. Something truly awesome about this person’s distance, though, is the fact that you have more liberty to be vulnerable with them. A far-away person might not judge you in the same ways someone close might… or at least it feels that way. In all honestly, our close-to-us friends likely won’t judge us either, but it can be easier to open up to someone far away about things that you may be too afraid to talk to others about. In this sense, you and your penpal can become really close!

Care

You can’t expect your penpal to care about all these things going on in your life that you share with them if you don’t care about what’s going on in their life. Your penpal has just as interesting and full of a life as you do, but it’ll take some work to get to know them well, just like it takes the work to get to know anyone! Be responsive, inquisitive, thoughtful, and above all, caring, and you and your pen pal are destined to go far.

How will you include these tips when writing to your penpal? We hope these pen pal letter ideas gave you inspiration! Let us know how you’re a super awesome penpal!