8 Long-Distance Relationship Tips

Long-distance relationships can be grueling and challenging, but necessary for some couples. Whether your spouse is deployed or you are separated due to a work commitment, you can keep the fires burning at home with a few long-distance relationship tips.

8 Tips for a Long-Distance Relationship

Don’t let distance tear your marriage or relationship apart. You can navigate this time physically away from each other to strengthen the emotional aspect of your relationship. Long-distance relationship tips should center on building trust, respect, and connection with each other, even if you can’t touch each other for weeks or months at a time.

The following are several long-distance relationship tips.

Keep lines of communication open

The most important of the long-distance relationship tips is to keep communication open. Communicating, resolving conflict, and setting goals will deepen the relationship. Expressing your thoughts and feelings and honoring the other by listening to them will create a safe space for you to share, breeding trust and respect. This trust will strengthen your bond.

Set relationship goals

Having something to look forward to can make the time feel like it is slipping quickly and draw you closer emotionally. For example, maybe as a couple, you set a goal to move into a larger place once you are together again. Together, you can make plans, create digital vision boards of what you want, peruse real estate websites, and set financial goals. As you work together on a goal, you will deepen that connection.

Use technology to your advantage

It has never been easier to stay connected with a loved one far away. From calls to virtual chats to social media posts and direct messages, you can stay connected at the touch of a finger. Use technology to your advantage to stay up-to-date on your significant other. Consider sending messages, video calling, sharing memes, and making videos. It’s almost like having them in front of you every day.

Be patient

Sometimes, your loved one cannot answer a call, works too late to chat, or forgets to reach out for a few days. Learn to be patient. Long-distance relationships can be frustrating, and patience will serve you both well. Look forward to the next time you see each other in person and hold onto that hope.

Plan visits

Don’t neglect regular visits. If your significant other is in the military and stationed elsewhere, then their schedule is based on the military’s needs. You can still plan for leave dates. If your loved one works or lives somewhere else, you can schedule visits.

Perhaps you will visit your partner one weekend this month, and they will visit you one weekend the following month. Let these planned visits motivate you to continue your normal daily activities until you can be with your loved one again.

Be present

Be present during face-to-face visits, phone calls, and video chats. Keep your mind focused on the present and do not worry about the future or what you cannot change in the past. Stay mindful. Put your phone down when your loved one is with you. Keep distractions to a minimum during a telephone or video call. Prioritize your relationship over everything else.

Set boundaries and expectations

It’s important to set expectations for the relationship as well as boundaries. Honor each other’s boundaries. For example, know what to expect in a long-distance relationship. Will you have a cutoff time for phone calls during the evening? Will you set a specific time for video calls?

Keep in mind that some partners can allow their own insecurities to dictate how they treat their loved ones. For example, if a significant other tells you that you cannot be friends on social media with people of the opposite sex, this may be a red flag that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

Use the distance to keep it playful

Get creative and find ways to keep the relationship playful. For example, send flowers or a fruit basket to your loved one just because. Or play a game during a video call. Maybe you could read a book together, listen to music as one of you cooks, or create a Scavenger hunt for things around town for the other person to find and upload a picture to you.

When you are together in person, take mini adventures together: visit historical places, watch a movie, go on a hike, or plan a trip to an escape room.

Couples Counseling in Your Area

Need more than long-distance relationship tips? Couples counseling is available, and thanks to technology, a Christian counselor can work with both of you virtually. Contact our office today to schedule a session with a Christian counselor. Your counselor will combine evidence-based psychotherapy methods with faith-based principles. Call us today for an assessment.