Hello, new friends!
I've been lurking here for a couple of weeks, and I've been impressed by the caliber of conversations I've seen here. I thought I'd finally say hello. I'd love to make some new friends, especially other people who know how hard, yet amazingly rewarding, a LDR with the right person can be. I've tried to explain it to some of my local friends, but most of them seem to think I'm crazy.
At any rate, my name is Joe. I'm 43, and my girlfriend is 36. She's divorced, and I'm going through the process (I've been separated for just over 16 months).
My girlfriend and I met through work. We both work for a major electronics company with a fruit-based name. We're both managers there. I live on the East Coast, and she's on the West. We knew each other for over a year at work, but never met in person, although we've worked closely through FaceTime video conferencing, e-mail, phone calls, etc. We worked together on a purely professional level for over a year, before one day, seemingly out of the blue, we were both struck by how much we liked talking to each other.
Our conversations soon moved outside work channels, and grew longer and longer as we got to know each other at night, after work. We started "dating" (as we called it) from almost 3000 miles away by using websites like LetsGaze to watch movies together. Or we'd take walks together while talking on the phone, stopping occasionally to send pictures to each other of the beautiful or interesting things we saw on the walk. We're both writers, and we filled each other's inboxes with thoughtful and introspective messages. We made each other laugh constantly, yet also discussed the most serious and intimate topics. Around Christmas, we admitted we'd fallen in love with each other, which neither of us had thought possible, considering we'd never seen each other in person.
She flew to see me in January, when I moved from Pennsylvania to North Carlina. We took a two-day, five-state drive together, and we had the absolute best time of our lives. We were intoxicated to be together. We talked the whole trip, held hands non-stop, kissed at every opportunity, and just marvelled at how great it all felt. She had decided to just come for the weekend for our first visit, in case the chemistry wasn't there "in real life," but it definitely was, and the weekend ended with both of us wanting more.
A month later, I flew from North Carolina to California to see her, this time for a week. It was just as amazing as the first trip. We saw incredible things, did a walking tour of San Francisco, toured Napa Valley, and tons of other great things. We also made a conscious effort to not just make the trip into a honeymoon: we wanted to find out how we'd do with more domestic tasks. So for the last three days of my trip, we both worked. (We can both work from home, so it was easy.) We worked, then once the day was over, we made meals together, did housework together, discussed finances, went shopping, etc. Again, it was absolutely wonderful. I met her three best friends, and her sister. It all went splendidly.
Because our jobs allow us the freedom to work from anywhere, we have a luxury that many people don't have in a LDR: the ability to spend a lot of time together without taking tons of vacation time. We've decided to try spending at least one week together each month this year. I'm flying back out next week (March 15th), this time for two weeks. We are planning to do a three-day roadtrip to see the California redwoods, but for the rest of the trip, we'll be working as normal. We are interested in eventually moving in together (not for a while, don't worry), so it's important for us to know that we can live together well when we're not just focusing on having fun, but on a day-to-day routine. We also have trips tentatively scheduled for April (her visiting me for 1 week) and May (me visiting her for 2 weeks).
Once my divorce is finalized, I am planning to move out to California. (I was planning this already before we started talking. The East Coast has a lot of bad associations for me right now after the past few years, and I'm ready for a fresh start.)
So, that's our story, more or less. March 10th will be five months we've been dating. Looking forward to learning more about the rest of you.
At any rate, my name is Joe. I'm 43, and my girlfriend is 36. She's divorced, and I'm going through the process (I've been separated for just over 16 months).
My girlfriend and I met through work. We both work for a major electronics company with a fruit-based name. We're both managers there. I live on the East Coast, and she's on the West. We knew each other for over a year at work, but never met in person, although we've worked closely through FaceTime video conferencing, e-mail, phone calls, etc. We worked together on a purely professional level for over a year, before one day, seemingly out of the blue, we were both struck by how much we liked talking to each other.
Our conversations soon moved outside work channels, and grew longer and longer as we got to know each other at night, after work. We started "dating" (as we called it) from almost 3000 miles away by using websites like LetsGaze to watch movies together. Or we'd take walks together while talking on the phone, stopping occasionally to send pictures to each other of the beautiful or interesting things we saw on the walk. We're both writers, and we filled each other's inboxes with thoughtful and introspective messages. We made each other laugh constantly, yet also discussed the most serious and intimate topics. Around Christmas, we admitted we'd fallen in love with each other, which neither of us had thought possible, considering we'd never seen each other in person.
She flew to see me in January, when I moved from Pennsylvania to North Carlina. We took a two-day, five-state drive together, and we had the absolute best time of our lives. We were intoxicated to be together. We talked the whole trip, held hands non-stop, kissed at every opportunity, and just marvelled at how great it all felt. She had decided to just come for the weekend for our first visit, in case the chemistry wasn't there "in real life," but it definitely was, and the weekend ended with both of us wanting more.
A month later, I flew from North Carolina to California to see her, this time for a week. It was just as amazing as the first trip. We saw incredible things, did a walking tour of San Francisco, toured Napa Valley, and tons of other great things. We also made a conscious effort to not just make the trip into a honeymoon: we wanted to find out how we'd do with more domestic tasks. So for the last three days of my trip, we both worked. (We can both work from home, so it was easy.) We worked, then once the day was over, we made meals together, did housework together, discussed finances, went shopping, etc. Again, it was absolutely wonderful. I met her three best friends, and her sister. It all went splendidly.
Because our jobs allow us the freedom to work from anywhere, we have a luxury that many people don't have in a LDR: the ability to spend a lot of time together without taking tons of vacation time. We've decided to try spending at least one week together each month this year. I'm flying back out next week (March 15th), this time for two weeks. We are planning to do a three-day roadtrip to see the California redwoods, but for the rest of the trip, we'll be working as normal. We are interested in eventually moving in together (not for a while, don't worry), so it's important for us to know that we can live together well when we're not just focusing on having fun, but on a day-to-day routine. We also have trips tentatively scheduled for April (her visiting me for 1 week) and May (me visiting her for 2 weeks).
Once my divorce is finalized, I am planning to move out to California. (I was planning this already before we started talking. The East Coast has a lot of bad associations for me right now after the past few years, and I'm ready for a fresh start.)
So, that's our story, more or less. March 10th will be five months we've been dating. Looking forward to learning more about the rest of you.
I like hearing someone else has had a similar experience! Glad you're here.
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