Relationships are hard, throw in a 300 mile separation and you have got yourself one tough situation. But as many people who have had a successful long distance relationship will tell you: some of the best things in life are not the easiest. There is no reason to be scared of a long distance relationship as long as you follow our seven tips below. You too can be a long distance dating success story!

Stay Connected

First and foremost it is important to stay connected to your partner. In the digital age we live in there are many ways to do this. Between phone, email, instant messaging or texting you will never be far away from you loved one. Use one or a combination of them all; just make sure you stay in touch with your partner throughout your day. Even if it is a quick phone call to say hi or a text to give an update on your day make sure you do not forget that there is someone else out there who is interested in what you are doing. There is no detail too mundane to share with your partner. By letting one another know the little things that go on during your day you can feel a closer level of involvement in one another’s lives. Also it is important to establish a “connection time” – a time you talk every, or at least every other, day. Chances are you are busy with your lives and staying connected is not always the easiest thing to do. If you establish a time (be it when you both are getting ready for work, driving home from work or are about to go to bed) when you can talk without any distractions you will continue to feel and stay connected.

Communication Is Key

Now you might be saying to yourself “didn’t we just talk about communication?”, but connecting and communicating are two different things. Connecting is superficial while communicating is a deeper level. Communicating is telling your partner how you feel and what you think. A huge draw back to a long distance relationship is that you can only use one or your five senses and that is sound. Your partner does not have the ability to use any other senses to figure out how you are feeling – he cannot see that you are frowning when discussing him having to cut the conversation short and she cannot see that you are fidgety because you are stressed about the amount of work you have to do. No one is a mind reader (ok, well maybe some people are but I doubt your sweetheart is) and you need to say how feel and what you need or expect to be disappointed. It might be difficult to not hold back at first but once you get the hang of it miscommunication is much less likely to happen.

Don’t Expect Too Much

I am not saying to have low expectations but have realistic ones. Life happens; people will disappoint you but do not set your relationship up for failure by expecting too much from another imperfect human being. Learn how to move on. This brings us back to communication – tell your partner what upset you, find a solution and let go. Everyone will be much happier in the end!

Check back next week for the rest of freeloveMD’s 7 Tips For A Successful Long Distance Relationship.