During the school year, I live across the country from my best friend: my boyfriend. Sometimes it gets hard, and sometimes it is the most wonderful thing. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I get asked a lot why I put myself through it, but I think the answer is pretty simple. Wouldn’t you put up with distance for someone you love? But my answer is usually something like “Well, I think he’s worth it!” And he is worth it to me. Having a long distance boyfriend has its downsides (a lot of them), but there are also a couple of perks that people don’t usually think of, so here’s a list of 5 reasons long distance relationships are totallyworth it:
You appreciate time spent together
In college, a lot of people date someone who lives on the same campus. That means a whole lot of time spent with their significant others, and not a whole lot of time by themselves. I hear it all the time: “I’m going to miss you so much!” When they are going home for a three-day weekend. Some of the couples on campus cannot be apart from each other for even one night and they get upset if they can’t sleep over. By being apart from my boyfriend for most of the year, I can truly appreciate every moment we spend together, even if it is just a three-day weekend. We also make each day matter. We don’t have to do anything spectacular, but we definitely try to make memories together, even if it means watching a movie marathon with hot cocoa and a fire going in the fireplace.
You can grow as individuals
Like I said in the previous point, a lot of couples spend so much time together that they forget who they are as individuals. By being together constantly, these couples start to form into one identity. Yes, it’s great to have similar interests in the relationship, but everybody should be able to grow as a human being and figure out who they really are. College is the perfect place to find who you are, but it is hard to do so with someone who may be preventing you from pursuing your interests. Because of where my boyfriend goes to school, he is able to pursue his career in aeronautical engineering, his passion for flying, and grow his leadership skills to start his career when he graduates. He would not be able to do that if he were at Scranton, and I would not be able to study occupational therapy or pursue my passion for riding horses if I went to his school. Since graduating high school, we have both grown incredibly from the people we were, but we grew separately, not apart.
Traveling!
My boyfriend and I love to travel and living so far from each other gives us an excuse to fly to places we’ve never been. Meeting up in between our two schools has given us wonderful opportunities to explore everywhere from Colorado and California to Virginia and Maryland. We don’t know where we will end up in the following years, but I can guarantee that there will be endless exploring to be done!
Friendship
It sounds a bit odd to say that friendship is a benefit of long distance relationships, but it’s true! My boyfriend and I have been close friends since middle school, but we only started officially dating three years ago. So yes, we definitely had a strong friendship to start out with, but long distance relationships can test that. Because these relationships mostly involve phone calls and FaceTime calls, you have to be exceptionally good at talking and communicating. Our relationship has made me a better listener and communicator and our calls have taught me more about him than I think I would have learned in a typical close distance relationship. We also have to trust each other, because we can’t be there to check in on each other. That trust has brought us even more closer together.
The Hellos
I don’t think a better feeling in the world exists than seeing him for the first time in a few months. When I see him, I want to cry of happiness. And then comes the hug. Being with him is the most comforting place I could ever be. And it’s a promise. For every goodbye there will always be another hello moment, and not every couple is lucky enough to get those moments to cherish.