How to Survive a Long-Distance Relationship

There may be any number of reasons for you ending up in a long-distance relationship. Perhaps you have met somebody on holiday, you have a partner who has had to travel through employment or further education, or you were introduced on this site or that dating app with clients in several countries. Whatever the circumstances, the fact you are to be parted by hundreds or even thousands of miles is no reason to call it a day. There are many ways to ensure you survive your long-distance relationship.

Ration communication

It might seem counterintuitive, but one of the first things to accept is you need to cut back on communicating. There is no need to bombard one another with text messages or phone calls. A far better strategy would be playing it cool. In that way, messages will be far more appreciated. There is an old adage about absence making the heart grow fonder, and this is certainly the case when it comes to keeping in touch with a distant partner. A constant sense of anticipation is preferable to coming across as needy or possessive.

See the potential

Rather than looking upon your situation negatively, a far better outlook would be to see it as an opportunity. After all, being separated in this way is most likely to be a finite situation. You may well have a good idea of the moment you are finally to be reunited again. Having something to focus on, as well as an impression of sharing this journey, will make it so much more bearable.

Agree to the rules

One key element of any long-distance relationship is you need to set ground rules from the outset. With phone calls or web chats, decide beforehand how regularly you wish to keep in touch. These moments should be cherished, not taken for granted. There would be nothing worse than waiting to hear from a loved one, only for no call to come through at the pre-arranged time. This would only generate fear or suspicion. So, if for any reason you’re not going to manage the scheduled communication, make sure you give advanced notice of the fact, explaining what happened to cause the delay. Present a revised timetable.

Inventive communication

By all means, inject your communications with the trivia of your day-to-day lives whenever you are catching up. But you should also strive to be creative in the content of your messages. Avoid downbeat subjects, as there is no point in expecting your partner to empathize with an unpleasant situation when they are so distant. Instead, focus on keeping the tone of your conversation light.

Also, there is definitely a time and a place for ramping up the creativity. Rather than simply turning your messages into chatty expressions of your love for one another, take the opportunity to inject your conversation with flirty asides. This could escalate into full-blown sext messages. With the power of the imagination and the secrecy of a web browser, feel free to describe steamy scenarios which will be guaranteed to ensure your other half remains hot under the collar. Discuss all the things you’d like to do to each other when you are alone again. Forming these images in your mind will both give you something to latch onto.

Stay within boundaries

Always trying to avoid what might be termed risky situations. It could be there is another single at your office who makes it obvious they have feelings for you. Rather than find yourself in a potentially compromising situation should they invite you out for a drink, politely decline.

Try to focus on some of the routine things you used to do with your partner and carry on doing them yourself. Make sure there are always reminders about the place, such as photographs. When you have a quiet moment, pick up one of these and visualize having a conversation together.