Pretty much what the topic says. Are any of you in a long distance relationship? How do you and your partner maintain stability with one another as in what activities do you do? How often do you spend time with one another? etc.
I used to have a long distance relationship with someone when I started working at this site. We were very close and spoke every day. I actually used to call him a lot on the phone. We also spoke a lot via online and chatted a lot. And did rp's, which I admit is a severe weakness for me. He was the best relationship I ever had, he fell in love with someone else, and we broke up for a year. I don't know if it was him or something else or a just a perfect storm, but I fell into severe depression that year. We got back together near the end of the school year and just drifted away. Coming back here, I remember how much I miss him and love him. And I'm totally getting off track. I never really got a relationship after that. But the long distance relationship online was the best I had. If I could've done it again, I would, but I would keep him this time.
A long distance relationship is one that is difficult to keep. I can say I've been in a few, but the longest one I had lasted almost two years. Sure, I was manipulated at times, but it was the happiest I had been in a long time. A way to keep it going to is to try to be in moderate communication. Don't force yourself on the other person too much if you can. Also, try to find a hobby or two to just pass time. Maybe share a hobby and you guys can talk about it and encourage each other. Send letters to each other, talk on the phone when you can, and even send little gifts to show them how much you care about them. Also, it sounds kind of harsh to say, but this is for any relationship really, don't get too attached too easily. That was definitely my problem, and it ended up that this girl didn't feel the same about me after how long we were together. You can become close, but it's always easy to picture the perfect person when you only see a certain side of them (or that certain side is as much as they are revealing).
I've never been in a long-distance romantic relationship just because I find it hard enough to deal with having only web-based interaction friendships. I don't really have a social life to speak of, for the better part of my teens I've had most of my social interaction online (GOSH MISTY YOU'RE SO WELL-ADJUSTED), had and have some really great and close friends, mostly from here. It can be really tough. You're limited in things you can do together (not to say there's nothing to do together, but you can't really go out and play laser tag together, either), limited in interaction (text-based chat is nice and all but it's easy to have something you said taken the wrong way; sometimes you just really want to give (or receive) a hug but you can't), that sort of thing. And then there is also the possibility that someone is lying completely about themselves, or will suddenly drop off the face of the internet with no explanation. The former I suppose can also be true in real life, but it's a lot more common online. A close online friend of mine told me a year into talking to her that she had lied about her name, age, and appearance entirely. However, there are also cute little firsts you can have with an online friendship or relationship that you can't have in real life. The first time you hear each others voices, the first video chat, the first letter or present you send each other. That sort of thing can be really heartwarming, and reassure you that it's an actual, living breathing person on the other end. I used to be very staunch in disbelief of internet attraction or relationships but after seeing a friend go through an incredibly genuine one, and personal experience in this realm, I've changed my tune. I'm not sure I believe it when some people say they are superior to traditional relationships in that they allow you to know each other's ~inner self~ better, but I do believe that there can be real love (romantic or friendship-wise) between two people online. For myself, though, I don't think I could be in a long-distance relationship, at least not without certain conditions. They'd have to be within traveling distance, and not just "could I take a 20-hour plane ride and get there" distance, something a bit more reasonable. There would have to be real possibility of us moving within easy distance of each other, and of course, the strong attraction to warrant trying in the first place. I am a very taciturn and occasionally stoic person, I think I would need that physical component in order to be in a proper, fair relationship. I can also be very jealous and clingy, traits I'm not proud of, and are not really conducive to a healthy long distance relationship of any kind. At the end of the day, though, love is love. If it's strong enough people can and will make it. With honesty and genuine effort on both parts, a LDR can be maintained, I think. At least, the failure rate is probably no higher than that of traditional relationships.
I've never had to do so, mostly because I wouldn't want to, but I couldn't see a long distance relationship working out. Relationships are all about contact, spending time together, and so on. I don't know about everyone else, but communicating over a cellphone and not getting to see each other face to face is not something I'd be fond of. Friendships are alright, but dating is out of the question. If I can't visit someone and hang out with them in real life, I'm not going to be dating them, seriously anyway, any time soon. I'm sure there would be some, as Misty said, who could make it work. I'm not one of them. I do however believe that the probability rate of a relationship ending grows larger with an LDR. One word comes to mind when I hear LDR, "Cheating." Humans strive for that constant contact with each other. After a while, it would more than likely end badly. Like it was said though, there are probably those very few people who could make it work. Just finding the pair that could do so, and not just one, would be incredible.
