Love makes you crazy. None of my friends thought love would make me crazy enough to date someone in a different country though.
Long-distance relationships are already difficult. Add in travel visas, language barriers, and international flights,it seems nearly impossible.
Nearly, but not impossible. I have been in a long-distance relationship that spans between Mexico City, Mexico, and California for almost two years.
My partner and I have the classic Gen Z love story. We met on Tinder, talked on Instagram, and boom, relationship.
One of the first problems we experienced was our language barrier. We both spoke a considerable amount of each other’s native language but still struggled.
My partner was far more proficient in English than I was in Spanish, and thus that was our preferred language.
Many people would be happily comfortable with this, having a partner speak in their second language for you to understand them. Not me.
I have been determined for years to learn the Spanish language. Far before I met my partner, I took classes in high school, which were useless by the way.
Instead of viewing our language barrier as a problem, we viewed it as an opportunity.
My partner teaches me Spanish. I help him refine his English.
I have become almost fluent in Spanish now.
We have cultural differences as well. While I’m of Mexican descent here in the United States, he was born in Mexico. I was used to the Chicano culture of California and he was used to Mexico City’s culture.
Instead of viewing our cultural differences as Mexican vs. Chicana, we grew together.
He learned about my side of the culture, such as folklorico and Chicano music. He taught me his traditions like Mexican holidays and family recipes.
Differences do not equate to barriers.
Another issue we conquered was the distance itself. We worked this out fairly easily.
Because we are both college students, we are on similar schedules. I visit him for a month over winter break and he visits me in the summer.
This has become an expectation, it isn’t up for debate in our relationship.
We see each other so little that these two months of the year have become extremely important.
While we’re not together physically, we both put in the effort to spend time together. Phone calls, virtual movie nights, and making dinner together over video calls are all methods we use.
2,000 miles is far more than just a long distance.
People always ask me how I make this relationship work.
I always tell them the same thing.
When you have passion and effort, love is borderless.
What are your experiences with long distance relationships? Would you ever date across borders? Let us know @HerCampusSJSU