Yeah this works great until you realize you're the one _always_ initiating and they say "Wow thanks for getting in touch" and you don't talk to them for another 3 years.
Yeah, this happens to me a lot. But I’ve accepted that’s the price to be paid for keeping in touch with certain people. Of course, there are plenty of times when I decide it’s not worth it to be the only one who reaches out.
No, many more times than that. Maybe 6 months or a year of reaching out. I try to be very generous in this regard. Often times it takes many "investments" for the tactic to pay off.
This feels like the friend/emotional equivalent of a "Help Vampire" -- someone at work who is constantly asking for help. A /very/ distant friend/contact who is pinging you once every 1/2/6/12 months (thank you crontab!) are doing nothing other than "keeping a contact list"... while sucking blood from your neck. If they are an extrovert and you are a introvert, the exchange is not zero sum!