Long distance ain’t ever easy, but here are a few fun ideas to keep your relationship going strong! I started dating my boyfriend last spring, and we’ve since spent the summer (New York to Las Vegas), the fall (Chicago to Paris), and this spring through summer (Chicago to Beijing) long distance, so I’ve learned a few things about how to stay connected even when you’re far apart! These 8 quick tips also work for friends at home or from high school and are a fun way to keep in touch!
1. SKYPE will be your new best friend. You can use it to video chat when you’re both online, send video logs when you’re not, and with a little bit of Skype credit, you can call each other’s phones internationally (or nationally) right from your computer.
2. PENZU is an online journal – create an account and share the password with each other, and you can each login and write journal entries about your day for the other to read when [s]he wakes up! I’m working with a 13 hour time difference, so this is been great when we don’t have overlapping free time.
3. AVOCADO is an awesome app and website that allows you to send chats and pictures to each other, make lists and schedule virtual dates or upcoming events for just the two of you to see.
4. Letters! Handwritten letters are timelessly romantic and the effort and time they require will undoubtedly bring a smile to your boyfriend’s/girlfriend’s face! You can either mail them or, like I did, held onto them until the end of my quarter abroad and gave them to him in a bundle for Christmas to see that he’d been in my thoughts the whole time.
5. Amazon – I am a self-identified Amazon shopaholic. From textbooks to chocolate and flowers, they have everything. And free Prime student shipping makes time and shipping costs irrelevant. Send a surprise gift (food, flowers, gift items)!
6. Have a date night J. Pick a night when you can both stay in and watch a movie online, eat dinner [virtually] together, and catch up on everything going on in your lives. Setting aside time for each other and keeping your relationship a priority is crucial when you aren’t physically together to remind each other how important a role the relationship plays in your life.
7. Plan ahead! Buy tickets to shows or concerts that you can go to when you’re together next. Having something to look forward to makes the distance seem shorter. Groupon and Social Living are great for this!
8. Shutterfly is awesome for customizable photo gifts, and they regularly offer free gift specials. We’ve gotten free regular and large prints, a mousepad, a photobook, and personalized cards (for our anniversary or birthdays). Seems cheesy, but it’s fun, quick, easy, and best of all, cheap!