When you find your lifelong partners in crime but also need to be adults and move away from each other for whatever reason, life can be rough because you can’t just drive a reasonable distance to see each other.

My friends are strewn all over the country, and I am so happy for their successes in their new states. I also get excited to book vacations to see them, but that takes time, money and a lot of planning ahead to accomplish.

And, my friends are worth that time and money, but real life and responsibility have a tendency to get in the way.

My closest friends and I stay in touch as any millennial would: through group texts and messages mostly consisting of hilarious memes only we would find funny.

We get busy and maybe don’t get to talk to each other for a few days (or even weeks), but we always make the time when we really just need our gal pals.

Here are the basic steps to spoiling your “ride or die” besties from afar.

1. Acknowledge the periods of silence

Tthe texts start to become less frequent, and suddenly you realize you haven’t texted each other for two weeks.

Except, you’re not upset because you know she is busy learning the ins and outs of her career, studying or working 10 days in a row, or maybe we just got lost in a new show on Netflix that has four or five seasons to stream.

2. Send a quick text

Don’t be snide and passive-aggressive; just a quick, “thinking of you, let me know when you’re free to talk!” (Make sure you also reassure them nothing terrible happened, you just miss them), can make a world of difference.

You almost remind each other that self-care is important, and talking to your best friends can be a great break from a busy schedule.

3. Start collecting fun items for a surprise care package

Obviously, life is not all about buying things and receiving gifts. But, coming home to a mystery box that you are pretty sure you didn’t order is an incredible feeling.

Looking at the return address or little note inside to find that one of your closest friends took the time to make you smile is basically an even better feeling than seeing a mystery box on your doorstep.

Birthdays become especially important, and that is when you need to step up the care package game to the next level. You don’t even need to spend a ton of money and get them anything extravagant, but putting more thought and a personal touch into a gift and taking the time to send it will remind your bestie that she should still get excited about birthdays--even when you cannot physically be celebrating together.

4. Make sure to take time to video call, or at least phone call

That doesn’t mean you need to be calling each other every other day, but an occasional vent session and a life update as face-to-face as you can get (without hopping on a plane) can fill a small piece of the void where your besties belong.

5. Finally, buy that plane ticket

While you were busy with life and responsibilities, I sure hope you remembered to save your extra spending money and have been tracking flights for the best price.

I realize that this depends on how far the distance is between you all, but you need your girlfriends in order to stay sane while navigating adulthood. And that means that you cannot just rely on texts, a few phone calls and small gifts and be able to remain sane.

Like I said earlier, self-care is so important for feeling happy and positive, and the best self-care is surrounding yourself with the people who truly matter to you. Just because she's far away doesn't give either of you an excuse to lose your true friendship.

Making small changes each week in your budget will get you enough money saved for a flight and a few nights out celebrating or even a decent Groupon girls’ getaway trip.

Adulthood has a way of distracting us from the things we enjoy and the people we love the most in order to focus on being successful.

However, we can never allow ourselves to be too busy for the people in our lives that have been our constant supporters and number one fans as we achieve our dreams.