If you were to tell me that I was going to be in a long-distance
relationship three years ago, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. It was
always something I deemed couldn’t work or would be pretty much impossible to
maintain. To date, I’ve been in two situations where I’ve had a relationship
with someone across the seas, one which I’m currently in right now and another
which shortly ended as soon as distance was introduced. I thought that for
today’s post that I’d give some tips for how I’ve managed to maintain a strong
relationship with my boyfriend Adrian whether he was in Malta or Glasgow!
Tips for maintaining a long-distance
relationship
- Regular Communication -
There’s no doubt that Ad and I wouldn’t be together now if there was no
regular communication. We talk on a regular basis and I pretty much always
know if he’s in college, hanging out with friends or at home with family.
It’s always a good thing to be open about what you’re doing and develop
trust between you!
- Video Call Often - A text
and a video call are not the same thing. It’s always so much fun to chat
on Skype or Facebook video from a far and it really feels like you’ve had
a quality catch up when video is involved. We video call each other almost
every day unless one of us is too busy to talk!
- Plan Visits - I’d recommend
planning trips regularly to see each other. Luckily, Ad is currently
across the pond in Glasgow and it is easy enough to pop over on a flight!
If the distance is larger, it can be a lot more difficult to manage. By
planning time to see each other, it adds a little bit of excitement and
you know that the time where you’ll be wrapped around each other’s arms
will come soon.
- Have a vague future plan -
If a long-distance relationship is going to stay long distance forever, it
is most likely not going to work out. It’s always good to at least have a
vague plan of when you’ll both be in the same location or perhaps move in
together. Maybe it’ll be a year or maybe 3 years but if you both have the
idea that you’d like to be in the same location at some stage, I have
every ounce of confidence that all will work out for you! Personally, Ad
and I have never sat down and had the conversation of “when are we moving
in together”, but we have mentioned living together casually in
conversations which is good enough for me, for now. We are both still at
the stage of life where we are figuring out what we want to do with
ourselves and have goals we both want to work on before planning our lives
together.
- Chillax and Enjoy the
Independence - Something great which comes from a long-distance
relationship is that you get a lot of independence. I love being able to
do things for myself and not always being referred to as “Ellen and
Adrian”. I’ve always hated it when people group you and your significant
other and talk about you as though you both are not separate people. It’s
a bit of a perk because people in my life get to know me as me. Try to
enjoy the independence as much as possible and work on your personal
goals!
Have you any long-distance friends, or maybe you’re like me and in a long-distance
relationship! What tips would you give to those who are struggling?
