LDR Basics: 5 Start-ups to Get Past the First Year

My boyfriend and I met in an online dating site. He’s in Singapore; I’m in Manila. We may be hours away but it’s not that easy to just say, “Hey, do want to go out on the weekend?” Well, this guy makes me happy and I do the same for him. We enjoyed each other’s company so much. Cutting it short, yeah, we needed to make this long-distance relationship work. LDR’s are hard. It requires a lot of patience, effort, and faith to make it last. I once thought we couldn’t get past a year or even a month. But guess what? After two years, we’re still together.

So if you’re into a long-distance relationship or you’re planning to be in it, here are some tips which you could consider to make things work:

1. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing your loved one. You may not be able to hug him or kiss him for real but seeing him somehow fills his presence on your side. Talking with him and seeing how he raises his brows, makes a grin, or just goes flat affect quits the assumptions you make while you two are on the phone.
2. Mail a letter. Love letters may be old but there’s nothing more romantic than a letter written a gazillion times for perfection. It not only consumes time, it also consumes emotions. Every word and stroke in a love letter embodies feelings of all sorts. Effort is of great value.
3. Send a gift. Being apart gives you time to check out gifts or even projects which you can work on as a gift. You don’t need to send him something every time. It will be more special if you send him a gift in an unpredictable time. Though you’re far apart, it will remind him that he’s always in your heart.
4. Whatever means you use to communicate, there will come a time you both get use to the Skype or phone routine. You’re gonna simply call and go on with whatever you’re doing. Be sure to talk and make sure it’s quality talk. You may hear each other but you may not listen.
5. Save for a flight. It’s not enough you keep your love story virtual. Plan a trip with him. Save some money and get a flight. Make it an incentive for all the busy nights you spent on work or at school. Reward yourselves.

These are some basics we had during the first year of our relationship. Well, for an extra, we both made a deal not to break up unless we do it in person and we both agreed voluntarily. During fights and verges of breaking up, this rule bound us to talk to each other every time. So have faith because every love story will always be worth fighting for. Survive a year. If you did, do it again the next year!