Long Distance Relationships - Can they Work?

Relationships in your 20s can be a bloody nightmare. If you’re lucky enough to meet the guy or girl of your dreams the likelihood is, you want to keep hold of them. But how do you balance that around your own aspirations?

If your career takes you elsewhere and puts hundreds of miles between you and your partner – how do you make it work?

Make Skype Your Friend

A good thing about long distance relationships is that you’ll consciously take time out of your day to chat with your partner. Really chat. Lots of couples take it for granted that they see each other every day and so never really ‘talk’ to each other. Make sure you plan regular Skype dates; uninterrupted time where you can catch up without distraction.  

Trust is Key

You’re at home in your pjs, eating Doritos for tea, and your significant other is out. Roll on the gut wrenching images of he/she grinding to R Kelly with someone far more beautiful/handsome, and then going home with aforementioned person who later falls asleep on your side of the bed. No, no, no – you absolutely mustn’t give in to such crazy premonitions! 

Living apart means living independently, and you have to let your partner lead their life without persistent ‘where are you’ and ‘who are you with’ texts.

Trust is essential in a long distance relationship, and if you don’t have trust it’s just not going to work.

Focus on the Positives

Your relationship won’t lose its spark. Every time you are together it will be all Hollywood romance; passion, sex, fireworks etc etc…

Not going to see each other for a couple of weeks? Plan something really special for when you do finally get together. So if you ever have a ‘this is so difficult’ wobble, you can distract yourself with preparations for your next date.

What’s the End Goal?

You both need to know why you’re trying to make a long distance relationship work. Ultimately, you’re not going to be able to only see each other on the weekends for the rest of your lives; so at some stage someone will have to compromise. You don’t necessarily need to decide who straight away, but you do need to have an end goal in sight.

Remind Yourselves How Awesome You Are

Essentially, you have both made the decision that your partner’s ambitions and aspirations are incredibly important. By not letting your relationship dictate their career choices, you’re being super supportive and affirming how strong and loving that relationship is. It’s these sorts of qualities that mean you’ll probably end up with that ‘happily ever after.’

To conclude, if your career takes you elsewhere it’s not the end of the world. You can still maintain a loving relationship, and drawing upon that age-old cliché, it’ll make you stronger.

 

So love birds, spread your wings and be happy!