How long apart can you handle?

[Safihre]

My SO and I just work better CD than LD, we drift apart when not together.. We met and were CD for 3 months before going LD.
We meet about every 8-10 weeks and I don't know if we could handle more than 12 weeks apart, since after 6 weeks we already notice Skype just doesn't cut it and the feelings are dampened a little.

How long do you think your relationship can handle without physically being together?

[squeeker]

Well, I'm not sure if it's because we started out online/LD or what.. and I know it's cheesy, but I believe our relationship could handle any amount of time LD.. especially as long as we talked everyday (or almost every day) and had reasons why we couldn't close the distance yet. I just know I don't want to be with anybody else, and I know he wants to be with me, so we are committed to each other, whether LD or CD. Our longest visit was 3 1/2 months and yes that is better, and skype (or usually oovoo or google hangout in our case) does not give the same feeling but it's the best we've got when we are LD. Our longest time apart so far has been about a year, and this time around we are looking at probably 2 years apart because we both are in university now and finances are tighter. Maybe we will try for a short visit this summer but we might have to save the money. We are working towards our closing the distance goal with uni and other plans and talk every day so we make it work. It's different for different people I suppose.

I think also when people don't HAVE to go longer than a certain amount of time, it'll feel like they couldn't go longer.. when really I think anyone could go whatever time is needed LD with their partner if they have decided they are the one they want to be with forever, and have committed to them. Just my thoughts.

[mocha]

Safihre,

I am definitely not qualified to answer this question since im so new to this myself and have never met my SO in person yet. But im curious to know what other people have to say. This is a great question to ask. I hope you find the support and answers you are looking for.

Do you guys have plans to close the distance at all?? Have you talked about it yet?

[Zapookie]

So far the longest time we have not seen each other was 7 months. By the 6th month I was starting to get a little a little crazy. I don't know if I could really do more than that unless we absolutely had to. I enjoy physical contact and intimacy and somewhere in there it goes from being a want to a need.

[RachelAnne]

We go 4-5 months at a time without seeing each other, and it already sucks a lot. Personally, I don't know if I could go longer than a year. We went 5 years talking to each other without having met yet, but during this time we were just "friends" and we were dating other people. Now that i've met him and been with him for five visits so far, I don't know if I could handle any longer than 7ish months lol. It's really hard.

[snow]

Before we met we were LD for 10 months, the next time only 3 and this time around probably just one.
I think we could handle a long time apart, but I am not looking forward to being apart from him from January to September next year :/
However I think if we had to for the benefit of the relationship (like saving money for the wedding / living together / moving) being apart would make a sense and would probably be easier to handle than just being apart because I can't stay longer than 90 days in America.

[alittlemind]

My boyfriend and I were CD before being LD, so we're definitely a lot more used to being together in person as much as possible, so the distance is pretty hard for us sometimes, but I think we built up a pretty good relationship before hand that if we had to go a long long time without seeing each other, we could do it. It would almost kill me (ahah) but I would live through it because of how much I want to be with him. We've only been LD for a month, so I'm not sure how long I could ACTUALLY go without seeing him, but I'm sure if we had to go more than 4 months I might start going a lil crazy. :P Thankfully the way everything is lining up I won't have to be away from him for more than 3 months. Which I am so thankful for. We're both very physical people, love cuddling/holding hands/etc, and those are the things I miss most about being apart. As he always says though, these months are nothing compared to forever we get to spend together.

[Kitty Boo]

If we had to be apart, then I'd probably say that our relationship would be able to handle as long as it takes. Yes, it would be very hard, but in a situation where we have no other choice, then what can we do? >_<

[Dezface]

We were LD for 17 months before we met in person. After we met the longest we were apart was 4 months. I would have a lot of "I can't do this moments" when we were long distance. But I know, deep down, that I could have survived a long time apart. He's worth the wait. But I feel very, very, fortunate that after we met we were able to keep our times apart to a minimum.

So I could survive a long time, but so glad I didn't have to.

[sarahjane1992]

Me and my SO have been LD our whole relationship, close to 6 months officially. We've had 2 visits so far. We've been apart about 2 months both times. First visit we only spent a week together. Second visit we spent a whole month together. It was so hard to let him go at the airport.
But it's worth it. Not easy but worth it. <3

[lovefrom2800milesaway]

My ldbf and I have been LD for pretty much all of our relationship. We've been together for almost 2.5 years and we've only been physically together twice, once last summer and once this past summer.
I used to be okay with that idea. I know we're both busy with school and work. We Skype each other every day and text non stop all day. I thought I could handle only being together once a year. But when time actually came and we met up and spent an amazing 2 weeks together, I realized that I couldn't do it for only once a year. We talk about a future and everything together, but how can I possibly say yes to a man I've only physically been with 4 or 5 times? Impossible!
With that being said, we're trying REALLY hard to make it twice a year. We're planning our second visit of the year and if everything goes as plans, hopefully we'll only spend 6 months apart between our visits!!

[Alsfia]

We've been LD from day one but benefit from both living within the EU, so the longest we've been apart (since we made it official) was 3 months. Puzzling the flights and transport to and fro airports is a pain in the arse (especially seeing as his family, which he lives with, hates planning ahead even the slightest) but finding the cheap option (mostly ryanair or SAS for us, SAS being more comfortable) really do make the difference financially. Cheesy as it sounds, I really do think we could do as long as it takes, but I can't know for sure. From my experience, the weeks nothing is booked for the next trip are the absolute worst, but once it's all booked and settled it feels like there's light in the end of the tunnel.

[Malaga]

We have been LD since the start. The longest we've gone without a visit was a bit over 3 months. It was really hard but we took it stoically, we didn't know for anything better. Then we got into a habit of seeing each other every 6-8 weeks and that was just about right. This year we've been particularly lucky with time and visits, I think by the end of the year it'll be only 4 months in which there wasn't a visit. Next year looks busier though so I don't think this is sustainable :-/

The longer we've been together, the shorter our tolerance for time spent apart.

[Dziubka]

The longer we've been together, the shorter our tolerance for time spent apart.

That's definitely true.

We've been pretty lucky and the longest was probably just under two months. 50 days maybe?
We were close distance in the beginning and it was important for me that we can see each other once a month (average), anything less than that would have been too much for me in the long run.

[Tooki]

My GF and I did 9 months apart before I saw her again in December last year.

We would never do that again without a damn good reason, as it was hard on both of us.