Recently, someone remarked to me that the way she shows that she cares for people is by traveling to see them. The time involved in traveling is a clear signal of caring. Spending time to travel is a better signal of caring than spending money on a gift. Money is producible and you can always make more of it, but you can’t ever get time back. This holds true for whether it involves a subway ride down town or a flight across the country. It also holds true for business, friends, or lovers. People just won’t travel to you unless they cared. 

It occurred to me that there might be a corollary to that idea too — giving someone your attention shows you care right now and the rest of the world around you doesn’t matter for the moment. With all the distractions around us (basically, the Internet via your phone), it’s harder than ever to get people to focus on the here and now. Attention is in many ways the last mile and most expensive signal of caring, which makes it possibly the most important signal.

So when I travel to see someone or someone comes to see me, I try to give them my undivided attention. In for a penny, in for a pound.