How to Survive Long Distance Relationships

Ask anyone who has ever been a part of a long distance relationship and they will tell you: Long distance relationships are hard. It’s a known fact, but there are ways to make a long distance relationship work, survive and maybe even grow over the time that the couple is separated. Keep reading this article about long distance relationships for teenagers and you might just discover some tricks to keep your relationship alive and well even though you and your boyfriend or girlfriend are apart.

The first step to making your long distance teenage relationship last to talk to your boyfriend or girlfriend before you two are separated. Before you move apart or leave each other for the extended amount of time, you will both want to agree on a set of rules or different ideas that you would like to work with while you’re apart. Some suggestions include: a phone call every other day, sending emails every day, chatting on an instant messenger program or talking through a webcam and so on. But you might also want to cover your feelings about some other cases.

For example if neither of you bring up the topic of other people, one person might think that it’s alright to go out with members of the opposite sex. So if you’re worried that your teen boyfriend or girlfriend is going to cheat on you, first talk to him or her about your definition of cheating, since everyone has a different idea about it. Tell your partner that you don’t want them to hang out with a bunch of boys or girls alone. Or that as long as he or she tells you before the actual act happens, it’s alright. Tell them that you are not alright with seeing other people while you are apart. Some couples might come to the conclusion that if you are going to be apart for an extremely long amount of time, like a few years, that you should be able to date other people.

If you are not alright with the idea of seeing other people, tell your partner. Don’t rope yourself into a relationship that you do not agree with, express your feelings about dating other people or looking elsewhere for your sexual or emotional fulfillment. If you and your boyfriend or girlfriend cannot make it work by long distance, come up with a contingency plan together. Maybe you would both like to meet up one more time once your extended time apart is over just to discuss what you think went wrong.

All couples will experience what I call the “going from being a couple to being just friends” phase. Don’t let this change in your emotions affect your opinion about your partner or your relationship. Talk to your boyfriend or girlfriend about your feelings of withdrawal and lack of love and the two of you will be able to share in this common feeling. Most importantly, don’t give up on the relationship even though it is hard to be apart from each other. Long distance dating may seem difficult but it is not impossible, as long as you know when the next time the two of you will be together and able to see each other again. Good luck and to find out more teen dating tips, keep reading my articles!