A local contact handles immediate, in-person needs. A backup contact further away plays a different but valuable role.
What a distant contact can do
- Serve as a second point of contact if your primary local person is unreachable
- Coordinate logistics by phone during a regional event affecting your local contacts too (a shared storm, for example)
- Provide a calmer, less time-pressured voice for decisions that don't require physical presence
A sibling, old friend, or even a former coworker who moved away can fill this role well — closeness in distance matters less than reliability and willingness.