I have always believed that to make sure a friendship lasts you need to make sure you make effort to spend time together, and that it will never work if only one party is putting in all the work. When my best friend moved to Southampton last summer it became harder, but at the same time also added more determination, we were not about to let the distance affect our friendship.

The fact we live in a world of technology definitely helps. We can keep up to date with each other through Facebook, we are just one click away from sending a text message and chatting. It's much easier than it would have been 20-30 years ago. However, despite this age of technology it's still important to actually see each other in person, and even though it's harder with the distance we have to make sure we can see each other whenever possible.

I must admit it's easier for her to come back up North, she has spent most of her life here, still has family and other friends here she wishes to also spend time with. But just because it's easier does not mean it should always be put on her to make the journey. So, at the end of July when my friend was struggling a little I decided to make the journey to see her, and plans were made.  Of course, because of priorities in life that could not be avoided - such as work commitments and other booked trips - the trip could not happen immediately. But we managed to figure out a couple of days when we were both free and the arrangements were finalised. 

5 hour train journey seems very long at first, but when you have your iPod and a book to keep you company it is not actually as bad as initially thought. I had done the journey before - when I had travelled down for her birthday in February - so I was vaguely aware of the route and timing. I spent my time of the train drinking tea, listening to Taylor Swift and reading Cursed Child - which was definitely better than I had anticipated after some of the opinions I had read online - and soon I was pulling into Southampton Central, exiting the barriers and hugging my best friend who it felt like I had not seen it ages; and to top it all off the sun was shining.

The next four days, leading to my departure on Thursday lunch time, was filled with catchups, meeting her new university friends, eating lots of food - which included an amazing visit to Sprinkle's cafe where we each got a serving of cookie dough - and watching movies. I must admit that one of the highlights of the trip was that I got to experience IKEA for the very first time, with the closest store to home about 45 minutes away I had not previously visited the well known shop, but now I definitely know where I will be visiting when I eventually decide to move out and get my own place. It makes me sound sad, I know.

Although I was only able to stay for four days as I had work shifts Fri, Sat and Sun. The trip was definitely worth while, it allowed us to catchup in a way that you can't communicate through text, it allowed us to share what we needed to without the barrier of technology that can often cause miscommunication. I am definitely not trying to undermine the importance of technology because I know that without it, our friendship may be very different. But sometimes it is nice to take a step back and spend time together that does not involve a social media account or mobile phone.

But now I feel this post has took a deep, possibly emotional turn which was not the plan. I just wanted to make a post about friendship and how much fun we had during my 4 day stay. To be honest, this post had been started and restarted several times, never knowing what to say or how to start. Do I got into detail about my trip? Basically writing up a day to day post about what we did...