Three tips to cope with a long distance relationship

Valentine’s is just a couple of days away and though many loved up couples are planning romantic escapes and candlelit dinners, for others they may be the other side of the world from each other thinking just how they can show their better half how much they love them from afar.

From personal experience my tips would be photos, poems, letters and talking. If you are a Londoner and looking for some more close to home Valentine’s plans then check out my latest post where you can win a London pass.

To give you some more tips, fellow travel blogger Kaylene has put together her tips on how to cope with a long distance relationship.

Three tips to cope with a long distance relationship

A year and a half ago, I met a guy on my first overseas trip to Europe. He turned out to be not just any guy. His name was Tim, he’s in the British army and from outside of London. He had been to America, even the state where I’ve lived my whole life, Tennessee, while hiking the Appalachian Trail. He loved tennis, a sport I had played since I was five.

On our last night together where we met in Geneva, Switzerland, we stayed up all night talking, and we decided we had to see each other again. Four months later he visited me in Nashville just before Christmas. Now we’ve been to five countries spanning three continents together.

From the start, it was a long distance relationship. I never thought I’d date someone living across the world. Not to mention, he’s been in the Falkland Islands for work, so was five long months since I’d seen him before New Year.. Our extensive wait was finally over as we met in Texas to wrap up 2015 and kick off the New Year.

I’ve learned just how hard long distance relationships are, but I’ve also figured out some ways to make it easier.

WhatsApp is your best friend.

This glorious app makes long distance relationships so much easier. If you have WiFi or data on your phone, you can send messages and photos and even talk on the phone to foreign or local numbers alike. While Tim was in the Falkland Islands, he had limited Internet connection. He used Internet cards so we could chat on the phone through WhatsApp once a week.

Having a routine of phone calls made the wait to see each other much easier.

Accept that at this point in time you can’t be in the same location.

I struggled with this when we first realised we wouldn’t see each other for five months. But we simply couldn’t. Both of our jobs wouldn’t allow us to see each other until then. Once I accepted that, I felt much more content with our situation. One day we will live on the same continent, but that’s just not right now.

Don’t only visit each other, travel together too.

It’s necessary to spend time where each other is living, but also take the time to travel to places far and wide. You can even find a fun destination halfway and meet there. At the beginning of Tim’s time in the Falkland Islands, we met in Chile and checked out Santiago, Valparaiso and San Pedro. It was a great central getaway for us and nice to get out of our locations before having long spells of work.

In this day and age, long distance relationships have been made easier. We have technology that allows us to keep in contact with people all over the world. But that’s not to say dating someone living on another continent or being apart from them while you’re traveling is a piece of cake. There are plenty of struggles that goes with not seeing your boyfriend or girlfriend on a more regular basis, but don’t let that stop you if you really want to be together.

How do you cope with a long distance relationship on a regular basis or while you’re traveling?

This post was written by Kaylene Chadwell from Cheers to Traveling

Kaylene is a southern American saving her pennies to see the world. Since she was a kid, Kaylene has been traveling around the United States with her family for tennis tournaments. She took her first out of the country trip a year and a half ago and now can’t help but plan her life around traveling near and far. Hurrah! Kaylene works as the sports information assistant at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and in October combined two of her favourite activities, writing and traveling, by starting a travel blog.

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