Keeping in Touch: The Across the Miles Photo Challenge

Back in 2006, one of my closest friends moved to Alaska to take a job as a social worker. At first she only planned to be gone for a year or two, but she's still there. In the past 9 years, we have missed a lot of each other's lives. We were going months at a time without any communication. Sure, we send occasional updates via email, but they contain mostly big updates and life changes. I missed hearing about the tedium of her life and felt disconnected.

I haven't been to visit her in Alaska and had no idea what her house, office or favorite spaces looked like. I was curious about what her surroundings were like and what she looked at all day.

Some photos required captions and others were just beautiful images of snow covered mountains or spring flowers. The beauty of this project is that we know that we're thinking of each other at least one per day and it only takes a moment to snap and send a photo. We've always got our phones with us, and knowing that we need a photo per day causes us to look at the world around us with a bit more curiosity. An average trip to the grocery or an evening walk can lend inspiration to our messages!

If you've got a friend who lives far away, try the photo-per-day text challenge for a month and see if it brings you closer. At the very least, you'll get to see some cool images through the eyes of your friend! The photos that people choose to send say a lot about them!