Maintaining Intimacy Over Distance

Keeping the romance alive in a long-distance relationship is not easy, but rest assured that it can be done. Furthermore, when you are successful at making a long-distance relationship work, it can actually be more rewarding and beneficial than a regular relationship.

With that said, there are certain perceived disadvantages to keeping a long-term relationship going, and for many people, the extra burden of physical distance can be too much to handle. Some of the perceived cons of a long-term relationship include:

    You lose the advantage of talking to each other in real-time.You cannot accurately gauge each other's facial expressions anymore when you are discussing important matters. (This is true even with Skype or Viber)
    Trust can be lost. It becomes harder to trust your partner to stay faithful to you since you have no way of confirming things with your own eyes and ears.
    Minimal physical contact. You will not have as much time to spend with each other physically as you would in a regular relationship..
    Conflicting timezones. There might be some conflict in your timezones resulting in even less time to talk to each other.

Of course, while there may indeed be some cons to maintaining a long-distance relationship, there are also some natural advantages that come with it including:

    Distance makes the heart grow fonder. You will be missing each other more than other couples and this can actually make you treasure each other's company that much more.
    You learn to treasure your moments together. While you do not get to spend as much time with each other, you learn to make the best use of the rare moments when you can be together and this can serve to really entrench the bond between you and your partner.
    A time-tested long-distance relationship is an extremely stable one. Once you have been in a long-distance relationship for quite some time, you will find out just how trustworthy your partner is if you still haven't broken up. This will be your reassurance that your partner is really serious about you and your relationship with each other.
    You will get plenty of free time to yourself and this is not necessarily a bad thing. Even in a regular relationship, you need some time off to be alone with your thoughts and you will get plenty of that in a long-distance relationship. You will also learn not to be dependent on your partner and vice-versa.

Tips for making it work

The key to making a long-distance relationship successful is to strike a balance between the negative and positive aspects of such a relationship. With that said, here are some solid tips to ensure that your relationship does not end abruptly in tears:

    Keep in touch with each other on a daily basis. Thanks to modern technology, you can now just hit each other up anytime via Viber or Skype. Just think of how much harder the couples from the previous generations had it.
    Schedule regular sessions for video chats. The best times would mostly be after or during mealtimes as those tend to be in sync across different timezones, or one of you could make adjustments to fit in with the other's schedule.
    Keep the relationship fresh with surprise visits. Also, remember to never forget to celebrate anniversaries and other special occasions that mean a lot to both of you.

As long as you approach things with a positive mindset, you CAN make a long-distance relationship work. Once you are successful at this, you can make your relationship even better than a regular relationship. Just remember to try to focus on the advantages and benefits of the relationship rather than dwelling on its inherent disadvantages.