The unpredictability of life can be both exhilarating and frightening at the same time. You never know what tomorrow will bring, do you? One day you and your best friend are making promises to stay together and be there for each other no matter what, and the next day you learn the terrible news that he or she must move away to a place far from where you are – a new city, a new state, or even a new country in another continent!
Your best friend moving away can be a very sad and very painful experience for you, for both of you, and the fact that you’ll soon be going through a plethora of strong emotions throughout this transitional period will not make things any easier for you.
Learn how to deal with your best friend moving away. No matter the distance between you, this doesn’t have to be and it shouldn’t be the end of your friendship. And it won’t be, not as long as you know what to do when your best friend is moving away from you.
Discuss the upcoming move with your friend
The very first thing you need to do when you learn that your friend is moving away is to find time to sit down and discuss the upcoming move with them. It won’t matter if you go for a walk in the park, take a stroll by the water, or sit down in your favorite bar – the important thing is to have an open conversation about the big change that is already banging on the door.
The thought alone of seeing your best friend go away is horrible, and you know things are going to get worse the moment the moving truck pulls away from their home. Be completely honest with each other – don’t hide important details that may later lead to possible misunderstandings and even hard feelings.
Be a good listener
Where that pre-move conversation will take you will depend largely on the core reasons behind your best pal’s decision to move away.
If your friend is moving to another place for an exciting reason (marriage, a better job, a better life, etc.), then he or she should be really excited about the forthcoming move. Though saddened by the thought of having your best friend move away, do your best to share their excitement and be happy for them.
On the other hand, if your friend is moving away for reasons that make them sad and miserable, then be there for them at that difficult moment. Don’t stop yourself from sharing some tears together.
Either way, lend your sympathetic ear to your friend’s worries, hopes, expectations, and fears regarding the impending home move.
Accept and support your friend’s move
The sooner you realize that your best friend is moving for real and that things out of your hands, the easier it will be for you to accept it.
Don’t forget that acceptance is truly essential when you have your best friend moving away. If you choose to deny that things are changing the way they are, then that will make the inevitable move even more difficult both for you and your mate.
The best thing you can do under the newly-created circumstances is to accept that your friend is following their own path in life, and once you do that, then you must prove your friendship by being 100% supportive of their decision to move home.
Remember that your support and even encouragement to follow their destined path in life will be an invaluable stepping stone for your close friend.
Help your best friend move home
In terms of pragmatism, the best thing you can do when your best friend is moving away is to offer to help them with their move.
Know that moving home is a lot of hard work, which means that your pal will be extraordinarily stressed out due to their simultaneous fight on two fronts: the struggle caused by having to leave good friends and familiar surroundings, and the battle of organizing a successful home move.
There are many ways you can help your friend have a smoother move:
- aid them in finding a good moving company,
- help them inventory their home and sort out their belongings,
- offer readily your packing skills,
- assist them in completing various tasks in their moving checklist.
Make sure you lend your dear friend a helping hand, even if that should mean a bit of heavy furniture lifting as well.
Throw a farewell party
Organizing a party may not seem like the best way to handle your best friend moving away, but in reality, a farewell party can be an excellent method of marking the end of one life chapter and the start of another.
Have mutual friends come over so that your best friend has the chance to see and talk to everyone before the move takes place. Emotions usually run high at goodbye parties, so expect that there will be tears and sadness, but also smiles and laughter while reminiscing the grand times you all had together.
Encourage everyone to give a short speech in which to say their own goodbyes to the friend who’s moving away soon. Try to make your farewell speech extra special – make sure you emphasize how much your friendship means to you.
Get your best friend a goodbye gift
Another thing you can and should do when your best friend is moving away is to give them a nice gift to remember you by – something nice and meaningful and sentimental. This way, you’ll have yet another original way to say goodbye in a way that you’ll both feel some kind of closure.
Gifts for friends moving away don’t have to be expensive in any way. In the best case scenario, it will be something special to reflect your friendship like something creative you yourself have made, for example: creating a gift card, writing a poem, drawing a painting, or composing a song. Other ideas for good moving away gifts for friends include books, framed artwork, plants, personalized items, or anything else that you know will make your best friend happy.
Spend some quality time together
Your best friend is moving away, but he or she has not yet moved, so you still have the chance to spend some cool time together. Your options will largely depend on how many days there are until their move-out date. Ideally, your pal will be able to find a gap in their moving checklist to do something together like you used to do before the unfortunate news of the impending move reached your ears.
Go watch a movie together. Take walks in the park or hike in nature. Go fishing or camping. Play together you sport you both love. Set aside a long weekend just for both of you. Play your favorite board games.
Just hang around, spend as much time together as possible before the wicked move takes your best friend away.
Promise to keep in touch
Understand that your best friend moving away is not the end of your friendship. One very important thing to do when your best friend is moving to a new city, a new state or another country is to promise to each other that you will keep in touch, or least do your best to do so.
Luckily, in this day and age, it’s easier than ever to keep in touch regardless of the distance:
- Phone. Long distance phone calls don’t need to be too expensive, just contact your phone service provider and find a monthly plan that will suit your needs.
- Letters. Real letters are still number one when it comes meaningful and touching form of long-distance communication.
- E-mail. E-mailing is instant and will give you an excellent way to stay in touch with your best friend regardless of where they are moving to.
- Instant messaging. There is a great choice of chat or video conferencing software out there, and you probably already have a preferred instant messaging program to start with.
- Social networks. Keeping in touch with your best friend via your favorite social network (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, etc.) is a no-brainer, and there is only one thing that can stop you from accomplishing that – no Internet connection. And that excuse, mind you, is too weak to be even taken seriously.
Im so sad 🙁
My best friend is moving away and I’m so heartbroken. We have been friends for a while now and everything was fine. Now all of a sudden he’s moving to California??!! It’s really sad but he said we’d keep in touch so I guess I just have to let go and move on to next stage of life.
See that’s not to far away from me, mine is moving across the world and I’m heartbroken. She’s going back to Italy and there will be a 8 hour time difference so we will barely be able to call, not to mention school.
Same my bestie moving back to Italy. I hope I can visit her in the future and she said she might be able to move back to the USA someday.
My friend is moving to California Tomorrow I cried when i was going to school but she said she will play roblox every friday if she can and i give her a letter with a Nezuko drawing i made
My friend of 45 years is moving away, out of California to some crap podunk in the middle of nothing. I can’t help pack or throw a farewell party because of COVID. I’m not able to be supportive. It just sucks and the timing is horrible.
I really miss my friend she was my first friend when I moved and now she’s leaving
I’ve been with my best friend since I was two, and then suddenly she moves to saint john?! I really miss her and were like 7-10 hours away from eachother and we bairly even talk now…
I also forgot to say she was my first friend…..
My bestie who i have known since i was 10 months old has moved to Bangkok and it was meant for 2 years this is the 2nd year but i found out that she is staying a 3rd year I’m so upset and idk what to do we are both 11 btw. And yea
If u know what could help plz reply
my best friend was my first friend when i moved to a new school
and we had so much fun together and now shes moving away and i might never see her again i can do anything for her move because of covid and she suddenly stopped texting me and showing up and school she just went missing and now I’m
worried.
Me and my best friend have been friends for about two years in Canada and now she’s moving to Aruba? I was in so much tears after I read her mother’s text about it. How can i cope with this news.. i don’t even know when her move date is yet.
My best friend who I’ve known as long as I can remember is now going to the other side of the world. pretty much and I don’t know what to do 🙁
Instead of crying over a friend who moved away, surround yourself with other friends. Talk to a family member or friend you trust. If he/she moved away for positive reasons, (marriage, a good college, a new baby, finding a bf/gf,) then try to feel happy.
my best friend is leaving soon. Time goes by too fast. and goodbyes and farewells suck so bad. I love her a lot and I know that she’ll do so well. I really hope we stay close even if she’s all across the globe from me. she’s my everything,, I know there are people out there that are in a smilier situation like mine, I hope you alll will feel better and stay close with your friends.
I am so sad my bff moved away and we only got to see each other for like 2 months and she is moving and I am sad
My best friend who Ive known for 5 yrs is moving to Nashville, and I have been crying s o much. I hope we can stay friends
I feel the same way too, as my best friend who I’ve known for 5 years is moving to Atlanta. If your friend was a good friend locally, chances are she will be a good friend long distance too. It just takes a little time for her to adjust to the newness of her new state, city, and home. But that doesn’t mean her move was the wrong choice.
my bff is leaving to australia and we know each other for 15 years. i’m sooo heart broken right now thank you for these tips
It’s OK to cry, Yevan! Talk to another friend, school counselor, teacher, family member, or any adult you trust about the move. I am 10 and my bff is leaving to Atlanta in the middle of the week! It’s entirely OK to let out some tears. Do everything you enjoy, from going to the movies to hanging out at your favorite bar, to an afternoon at the mall to a sleepover. Remember to have some last memories! Bye!
I’ve just found out today that my best friend is moving to a whole different Country on the other side of the world. I’m so, so sad because who am I going to sit next to if school begins, who am I going to go to when the holdays come, who am I going to walk with when school ends. All these thoughts run through my head, and I cannot bear it anymore. She says that she will stay for 2-3 years and I am 12 now, turning thirteen in November. I will be 16 when she comes back! 16! I’ll have my drivers license by then and who knows, she may end up staying longer. It came like such a shock to me and I’d never ever expect this to happen. I’ve been crying for the past hour and I do not know how n ot cope with it. Yes, I’ve already been to the park with her, where we talked for about 2 hours. Please, I’m begging you, any tips will be greatly appreciated because at this point, I just need some emotional support. She also said that she’ll never forget me but what if the worse comes. What if we suddenly stop talking to eachother. And I know I shouldn’t be thinking that but she is literally my other half. Please any tips would be so helpful at this time.
Thank you
If you have feelings that your friend may replace or forget you, these feelings are common. Your friendship will be stronger if you cheer her on when she makes a new friend. If possible, you can travel to your friend’s new home and meet the new friend, and the three of you can spend time together.
So I moved to San Diego not really liking it because my dad‘s girlfriend . she is the only reason why we’re going or we’ll went. Year later I made this wonderful person in my life name Ivy she is my best friend on my team and I her now she’s gonna be moving away. I just don’t know what to do she says she wants to move she’s going to Utah and since I hate my life here so much she’s was the only thing I hung on too. now I’m gonna be alone again with no best friend no hopes and dreams and I’m gonna be even worse than I was before and I don’t know what to do.
Make sure to keep in touch regularly with video chats, letters, email, or social networks. Make a goodbye gift, like a scrapbook to store all the memories you two had. My bestie is moving to Atlanta in a few days, and we keep in touch by writing letters.
my best friend that i have known sins i was 2 is moving to ohia
If she was your only friend, Gracie, you can try to find others of your age and make strong bonds. But if you have a plethora of friends, do things you love with your other friends.
my best friend is moving away and I cant stop her,when i moved to my new house in 2020 i talked to her first then we became besties:) and that help me get out of my depression.And when ever i told her she was fine with it but other people wouldn’t. I’m still sad about it but now i have to move on.
U did the right thing .when yor bff is moving away, try to stay in touch, and move on.
Im super sad that the secret love of my life is moving to manhattan.
I’m so glad to see that i’m not the only one in this situation. My best friend of 3 years is probably moving to alaska this summer for 4 years. And when she does come back, she will still be living 2 hours away from me. I am so sad and don’t know what to do because the moving date just keeps getting closer and closer. please help me. ):
My only best friend is moving away this summer and it’s a longggg drive I’m so sad and I can’t stop crying whenever I remember that she’s moving!
I was so sad when someone at my school told me that my best friend Aubree is not coming to my school anymore and she was moving to a different school and I was heartbroken and crying a lot and I never got to said a chance to said goodbye and I told my other friend Shannon and I talked about her a lot at home and at school. I had a lot of sad songs for her and I had a lot of dreams about her while I was sleeping and I been writing a lot of things about her and I been writing songs about her and I Imagine that it was her birthday and I play the violin and the song I play to remind me of her is happy birthday canon in d and white cliffs.
My best friend left a couple of days ago. I’m heartbroken. I have known her for three years only, however I used to see her each and every day. This was due to the fact that she lived in the same street I live in.
Although I am not at all an emotional person, (I have difficultly in crying!), I BURST INT TEARS when I was obliged to say “Goodbye.”
I opened my home to my best friend because she was very frightened that she couldn’t afford her apartment once the rent was increased. We’ve shared my apartment for nearly 3 years now. Her son lives in another province, & asked her a while ago if she would move out there, so she could look after the children while his partner goes to University. Originally, the
schooling wasn’t to take place for another 3-4 years. They decided they could manage & now it’s going to be the end
of August. Yes, this year. This means that my friend will retire, but I have encouraged her to think very carefully about what she decides. My bestie never keeps in touch with whatever friends she has made along the way, & she & I had quite a conversation about this, so I asked “why should I be any different”. She jumped up & said. “no, you’re my sister, we’re going to be travelling & I’ll be coming here for visits” To be quite honest, I’m feeling a grudge against her son for not only asking her to do such a thing, but to move the situation forward. She & I are like sisters., & I care very much about her. I don’t want to see her age prematurely because she’ll be babysitting a lot. I don’t know what to do..I’m at a loss here. I’d like to believe what she said to me, but of course her reputation precedes her. Anything anyone could offer to help me out would be very much appreciated.
my bestie is moving to NYC and im extremely sad but I will sneak into her suitcase if I can fit and I will be with her forever and ever.