“Long distance relationships never work.” This is what many tend to believe, yet the relationships that identify as long distance have only been increasing, and so have their success rates. Excluding my personal experience, LDR have actually been found to be beneficial to an individual, and there are so many tips to ensure those benefits. 

In the article, “8 Do’s and Don’ts for Falling In Love and Dating Long-Distance,” it discusses three different long distance relationships, analyzing what their advice is to do it right, while providing tips on how to make it work. This source tells us 8 tips that are as follows: 1. Do: make sure you’re in it for the long run, 2. Don’t: over communicate, 3. Do: make sure you have the same communication style, 4. Don’t: rely on social media, 5. Do: plan date nights, 6. Don’t: rush the end game, 7. Do: make plans to visit/vacation together, and 8. Don’t: forget to set healthy boundaries. I was particularly surprised by tip number 2, which is to not over communicate. You would think that since this relationship contains so much physical distance, you would want to connect virtually as much as possible. This source is telling us that over communication becomes “obsessive,” meaning that too much unnecessary communicating negatively impacts the romance in the relationship. I found this very interesting because when I first read it I hesitated at the thought. As someone who is going through a long distance relationship, I find communication to be very important and, in fact, the key to a healthy relationship. Although, I had never thought of the idea of over communication, and how another important factor to a successful relationship is not so much spilling each detail of your day without each other, but planning for dates or even trips together. Ultimately, this article has us focus on the more positive aspect of this relationship. 

In another article, “What Every Person In A Long-Distance Relationship Should Know,” it continues with more tips from previous/current long distance couples, some similar to the ones in the first article provided, but it also adds what the benefits of a long distance relationship has. One of the biggest advice they mentioned was, “You need to work toward having a very strong, solid base to your relationship when you’re long distance. Be open, honest, and trusting.” This is explaining to us that a long distance relationship requires a lot more work than just a “normal” relationship, so before investing into it, you should be in a place where you both are equally committed and focused in the relationship. I think that this is a great tip because, even in a non-long distance relationship, you can’t have love if you don’t trust someone. This type of relationship will push you to be even more vulnerable, which this article states is one of the many benefits. Long distance relationships aren’t for everyone, but, if it is for you, it’s definitely worth it.