Love and Romance in a Long-Distance Relationship
Love and romance in a long-distance relationship can be hard to maintain. Luckily, there are ways you can keep an emotional connection and have fun with your long-distance partner.
Here are some things you can do to keep the love and romance alive in your long-distance relationship:
- Have open and clear communication.
- Make sure you are honest with each other and trust each other.
- Focus on positive things in your long-distance relationship.
- Talk to your long-distance partner as much as you want, but not too much.
- Plan spontaneous trips together.
- Express your feelings, doubts, thoughts, and ideas to your long-distance partner.
- Take time to listen to what your partner wants to share with you.
- Exchange romantic gifts.
- Send a romantic handwritten letter to your long-distance partner.
Love and romance in a long-distance relationship is something that it’s worth learning about. Talk to your partner to understand what love and romance mean for them and realise what it means for you. Once each of you knows what love and romance mean, you can focus on creating and maintaining this love and romance in your long-distance relationship and beyond.
In this article, we’ll talk about the role of love and romance in a long-distance relationship. And some tips and ideas on how to keep the romance in your life.
Can You Love Someone in a Long-Distance Relationship?
If long-distance came into your existing relationship, all you have to do is understand how to manage your long-distance relationship.
Some people start their long-distance relationship online. When you’re in a long-distance relationship with someone you’ve never met, this person is more of an idea in your head.
If you’ve never met someone, your brain will create an image of what this person is like based on the information they provide. Sometimes, you may not have all the information, or the information you have may be incorrect.
The best way to know someone is to meet them in real life. For the first few months, you can get to know each other online, but eventually, you’ll have to meet to see what it feels like being together.
Love can be an ambiguous term. It may have a different meaning to you and your partner. When a couple is in a relationship, long-distance or otherwise, they tend to talk about love all the time. Until you have a conversation about what love means to each of you, you may well be talking about different things.
Why is it important to understand what you and your partner mean when you talk about love?
When you say “I love you” to your partner you may want to express a feeling of closeness or a need for reassurance. You may want to express your feeling, or you may expect your partner to say it back to reassure you.
At the same time, your partner may take it as your request to buy something for you. So, instead of reassuring you by saying “I love you”, they may give you a diamond ring, for example.
While it’s great to receive presents, things can’t replace a reassurance of connection in a romantic relationship. In a long-difference relationship, the reassurance of connection outweighs any one thing by far.
It’s ok to send gifts to each other, just remember that emotional connection is maintained through emotions, not things. It’s harder to maintain an emotional connection without physical contact.
How Do You Express Love in a Long-Distance Relationship?
To express love in a long-distance relationship, first, you should understand what love is for you and your long-distance partner.
People interpret love in their own ways. When you’re in the romantic long-distance relationship with someone, you should understand what love means to one another.
Once you know what love means to your long-distance partner, you can find a way to express yourself accordingly. For example, your long-distance partner might think that you love them if you talk to them every day.
In this case, as long as you know their expectation, and you are happy to talk to them every day, everyone is happy.
Many problems can appear when people aren’t clear on what love is.
If you don’t know what your long-distance partner means by having someone to love them, you won’t know what to do to fulfil their need for love.
There is a confusion of what love means to each person, create a lot of unnecessary issues. These issues in the long-distance relationship can quickly become intense and can jeopardise your relationship.
How to Be Intimate in a Long-Distance Relationship?
Intimacy is the feeling of being connected to your long-distance partner and trusting them.
In a romantic relationship, intimacy can be physical and emotional. When you are in a long-distance romantic relationship, physical intimacy is restricted. So, for you to feel connected in your long-distance relationship, you have to maintain emotional intimacy.
Maintaining emotional intimacy highly depends on your ability to communicate openly and clearly with each other.
It’s easy to make your long-distance relationship work when you trust your long-distance partner, and you can freely express your thoughts and feelings.
Your long-distance partner also needs to feel free to express everything that’s on their mind. They should know that you won’t judge them and won’t interpret their self-expression negatively.
The way you express your love in a long-distance relationship depends on the means you used to communicate with your long-distance partner.
For example, text messages are great to send a quick sweet text to remind your partner that you are thinking about them.
A phone call is great to hear their voice and to feel more connected to them. Video calls are great to discuss most topics while seeing each other in your monitors.
But, suppose you think that you need to consider emotionally intense things, or can cause friction or arguments. In that case, you should discuss them in person.
Conversation Topics in a Long-Distance Relationship
When you are in a long-distance relationship, you may go on for weeks without seeing each other.
Keeping your communication engaging is one of the critical things to make a long-distance relationship successful. The moment your conversations become boring, your long-distance relationship becomes tiresome as well.
One way to have a healthy long-distance relationship is by working on your personal life goals and doing exciting things in your own life. Another way is to make sure that when you do communicate, your conversations have a purpose.
Here are some conversation topics you can discuss in your long-distance relationship:
- To maintain an emotional connection, talk about your feelings, doubts, and ideas.
- To feel that you are part of each other’s life, catch up as if you would in the regular relationship on how your day went and all the cool things you have done.
- An exciting conversation topic is to plan your next trip together.
To have a healthy relationship, have conversations around your long-distance relationship. For example, how long it will last when and how you can move in together, and how you can manage your long-distance relationship until then.
Sweet Things to Do in a Long-Distance Relationship
When you do sweet things for your long and long-distance partner, it can help keep your intimate connection alive. Here are some sweet things you can do in a long-distance relationship:
- Send a random text message to your long-distance partner saying that you are thinking of them.
- Write a letter to them expressing your love, and attach a couple of pictures of you together. Receiving a letter in the post will be very special and unexpected.
- Send your long-distance partner a romantic gift that will remind them of you.
Online Games to Play in a Long-Distance Relationship
Playing online games can help you keep your long-distance relationship fun and exciting. One of the problems couples face in long-distance relationships is boredom.
If you talk to your long-distance partner more than the time you spend doing something exciting with your own life, you will soon run out of exciting things to talk about.
To have an exciting long-distance relationship, you should focus on having fun with your personal life. If you do exciting things every day, you will have something exciting to share with your long-distance partner.
Playing online games, together with your long-distance partner, is a lot of fun. But, it’s also an activity that brings you closer together. The more things you have in common, the closer you feel to your long-distance partner.
When it comes to playing games online, you can play games using an online platform, and you can also play board games through video calls.
It can also be a lot of fun to play games online with your long-distance partner and some friends you have in common. It will give you a kind of virtual social life.
Romantic Ideas for a Long-Distance Relationship
One of the most romantic things you can do in the long-distance relationship is to send you a long-distance partner, a handwritten love letter.
Handwritten letters are a lot more personal than text messages. They are also tangible, meaning your long-distance partner will experience emotions while reading your letter. Then they can keep your letter next to them to remind them of these emotions and to feel more connected to you.
Romantic gifts are also a great way to give your long-distance partner an idea of physical closeness.
My favourite is to spontaneously plan a trip with your long-distance partner and send your plan together with tickets attached to the handwritten letter expressing your love.
Creative Romantic Ideas for a Long-Distance Relationship
One of the creative romantic ideas for your long-distance relationship can be going up in an air balloon and having dinner while in the air.
You can make it even more special if you surprise your partner and plan everything without telling them until the last minute. To do that you should make sure that they are free for those dates, but you should find an inconspicuous way of doing it.
First, you can send them a ticket with your love letter, without telling them about your plans. You can then take a casual trip around until you get to the place. The more relaxed and last minute you make it seem, the more of a surprise it will be.
Romantic Gifts for Your Long-Distance Partner
Romantic gifts in a long-distance relationship are those that symbolise your connection. The value of the gift is not monetary, but it’s more about the meaning that these gifts carry.
You can send one of these gifts in the post, or you can give it to your long-distance partner while having dinner in an air balloon.
Check out this article for romantic gift ideas for your long-distance relationship
Conclusion
Typically, getting to know another person involves a lot of touching. Physical touch reassures you that all is well. It can also tell you if something is wrong. Without physical contact, it’s hard to navigate the state of your relationship.
Once you met this person in real life, so you know how it feels when you are together. But, how do you stay connected without body language and physical contact?
Here are some practical things you can do to stay connected:
- Agree the best way for you to communicate (messages, video calls, phone calls, text conversation).
- Decide together on how often you want to keep in touch (see what works for you).
- Schedule your conversations.
- Express yourself as clear as you can.
- Get comfortable talking about your feelings.
- Reassure your partner with a gift that expresses how you feel about them.
Need an LDR Coach?
- Send me a message and describe your situation
- I’ll get back to you with some thoughts & ideas
- We’ll arrange a video call to discuss your relationship in more detail
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best romantic gift for a long-distance relationship?
The best romantic gift for your long-distance partner is the one that carries the most meaning. The value of your gift is in memory and association it carries.
How can I be intimate in a long-distance relationship?
Emotional intimacy in a long-distance relationship is the most powerful way to feel connected. Trusting each other and freely expressing your feelings, will help you build a strong and healthy long-distance relationship.
Does long-distance ruin a relationship?
Long-distance can ruin a relationship if it lasts indefinitely. To have a successful long-distance relationship, you should plan how long a long-distance will last and how you will manage your relationship and connection until then.
How can I make long-distance easier?
To make your long-distance relationship easier, you need to have a timeline for how long it will last and how often you will visit each other. More importantly, you should make a long-distance relationship fun by sending each other romantic letters and gifts and making fun trips together.
How to keep things interesting in a long-distance relationship?
To keep things interesting in a long-distance relationship, you have to have an exciting personal life. Otherwise, you will end up having boring conversations with your long-distance partner, wishing to be together, and suffering in the process. In that case, your relationship will quickly become a chore.
What can couples do in a long-distance relationship?
The important things that couples should do in the long-distance relationship are to have a plan on how long the long-distance will last. Couples play games, exchange gifts, plan fun trips together, and grow and develop their relationship through trust and effective communication.
How can I surprise my girlfriend in a long-distance relationship?
The best way you can surprise to girlfriend in the long-distance relationship is by planning an exciting trip together. You can send her a handwritten letter expressing your love while attaching a small gift and a ticket to come and meet you at a place of your choice.
How do you know your partner loves you in a long-distance relationship?
The only way to know what your long-distance partner is feeling is by them telling you that. Even after your partner tells you how they feel, it is still a matter of you trusting them that they feel what they say they do.
