Home · Challenges · Themes

Keeping in Touch from a Distance

For anyone whose family or old friends live far away. Each day is one small way to stay part of each other's lives across the miles, so distance does not quietly turn into drifting apart.

Connection · Family · Relationships · Loneliness · one to-do a day · you choose how many days

Start this challenge free

The first seven days

  • Day 1Write down the names of five people you love who live far away, then pick one to contact today.
  • Day 2Send a short text to a faraway friend that simply says you thought of them this morning.
  • Day 3Record a thirty second voice note telling a relative about the best part of your day.
  • Day 4Snap a photo of your breakfast and send it to someone who used to share meals with you.
  • Day 5Look up the time where your far-off family lives and note the best hour to reach them.
  • Day 6Set a recurring reminder to call one distant relative at the same time each week.
  • Day 7Buy a small stack of postcards to keep by the door for quick notes to faraway people.

Further into the year

The to-dos keep changing as the year goes on. A few from later in this theme:

  • Day 30Put together a small care package with a snack from your town and a note.
  • Day 60Check which holidays are coming up for your family abroad and note them in your calendar.
  • Day 120Send a funny meme to an old friend who shares your sense of humor.
  • Day 240Send a kind note to someone whose call you had to reschedule.
  • Day 365Choose one small habit from this challenge to keep, and tell a faraway loved one about it.

How a challenge works

A Theraglee challenge is a theme with one small to-do for every day of a year. You choose how long yours runs, anywhere from a week to the full year, and each day you get the next to-do: something that takes a few minutes and fits inside an ordinary day. Tick it off when it is done. Nothing is scored and nothing is lost if you miss a day; the next to-do is simply waiting when you come back.

Challenges come with a free Theraglee account, which never asks for a card. Your progress stays private to you.

Challenges like this one

Making Friends as an Adult For grown-ups who would like more friends but are not sure where to start once school is behind them. Reaching Out to People For when your circle has gone quiet or you have been keeping to yourself. Each day is one small, low-pressure way to reconnect with someone, so… Welcoming People into Your Home For anyone who would like to have people over more often but feels the house, the cooking or the nerves get in the way. Writing Letters and Little Notes For anyone who misses the warmth of a handwritten word. Each day is one small way to write a note, card or letter, to the people around you, to…

Reading that goes with it

When Your Adult Child Moves Back Home Everyone said yes warmly and nobody agreed the rules. What to settle in the first weeks, how to talk about how long, and why mixed feelings about it… Going Somewhere Else in the Middle of an Argument Halfway through a disagreement you go flat and far away, and afterward cannot remember what either of you said. When People Keep Telling You How Strong You Are Meant as the highest compliment and one of the loneliest things to hear. Why it closes the conversation, what you quietly stop saying, and how to…
Educational only — not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Find a licensed therapist if you want support.