Your biggest challenge ?

[Dezface]

Our biggest challenge has been me having to adjust to him having a child. It's difficult and something I never wanted in a relationship. So I had to learn and am still learning how to cope and make it a positive. There's been lots of growing pains and adjustments on both our parts.

I wish I had been more understanding in the beginning. I had bouts of the crazy and I regret it. Luckily I have a guy who was willing to put up with my shenanigans

[Deleted]

3. ME. I am by far my own worst enemy. I constantly overthink things and I tend to be insecure, which can make me worry too much about my relationship. He is the opposite and can keep me grounded when I get worked up and scared. I wish I could just be as level-headed as him. I have depression and anxiety so that has played a role in my insecurities. I worry he'll find someone better than me, even though he promised me forever on many separate occasions. When we are CD, things are always fine and I don't worry.

This is me as well. If anyone ever needs support, I'm here.

[differentcountries]

Apart from the distance, I think the biggest challenge is that we did not have a chance to know each other very well (we just knew there was "something" there to like!) before I had to leave. In a way, it have been nice to "date" via phone, mail or skype, on the other hand it has created a lot of practical difficulties (he does not live on his own, internet is not always good and he has to share etc). So I think three things;
1) the technical stuff. We are working on that... (getting him his own smartphone to skype with)
2) money + time (to go travelling). Will always be a challenge I think, but it helps me to make plans, or even "half-way-plans"!
3) having to be physically apart. I am a very touchy feely person, so it is hard for me not to touch the person I love. I compensate a lot by remembering or fantasizing together with him. It felt silly at first, but now it actually makes sense to "kiss" him via skype, even if I am just writing the words.

[sarahjane1992]

The biggest challenge my SO and I deal with is missing each other. We have such an amazing time together that when we say goodbye, it hurts like hell. It usually takes a good week or so to start feeling better. Another challenge is trying to arrange visits. I'm in school + a new job. That combo makes it hard to visit during the school year. But we're making it work. I agree with Moon. I'd rather have my SO over 1,000 miles away than not have him at all. <3

[80anthea]

The Atlantic Ocean and the cost of flights to cross it.

[lejon]

One of the biggest problem is costs of travelling to see each other. We are both students so money is tight.

I actually have a bigger problem with money right now, and since my SO has savings, he's paid many of my flights. When I get a job I will pay him back, even though he said there's no need to. He has always said that money is not going to get into the way of our relationship... ahhh but it still feels so bad he has to do this

And also, we just hate to be apart. Missing each other like crazy. But I guess that's normal for anyone in a LDR.

[OperaDiva]

Well, we were close-distance for a few months and then started the LDR when I moved for work. For me the biggest challenge was / is creating trust and believing in a commitment that got upgraded so fast, since he would have to move to be with me.
And yes, sign me up for the anxiety-ridden bunch as well. I really feel bad for my SO for having to endure my rants, crying and general insecurity ...

[Mims27]

Our biggest challenge so far probably was my low self-esteem/anxiety. It put a strain on our relationship and her. I kept thinking she would leave me and that I wasn't good enough for her. Or even that she didn't want to be with me. Which was far from being true. But I got some help and we dealt with it. We still are actually but it's getting WAY better. As bad as it was it helped us grow a lot as a couple and actually made us closer.

[Flo89]

Since I'm convinced he is definitely worth it, I luckily trust him and our relationship. My biggest issues:

- Money. (Netherlands-America is not the cheapest haha)
- But mostly, I am a real planner. I've always been thinking ahead about what I'd be doing the year after, in housing/activities/place to live. Now I am constantly thinking about when after the next meet up (Christmas) we can meet up again because not knowing drives me crazy. Also, when we'll be graduated at the end of the year, I'm already thinking about the possibilities of me going there or him coming here, and visa's etc. And he is definitely not a forward-looking planner haha. That sometimes freaks me out. How can he not be thinking about this??

[Fretboard_Magic]

One is the time difference which went from 6 hours to 7 hours due to the daylight savings. I'm 7 hours ahead of her now, so most of the time I'm the one falling asleep on her when we IM on Skype. But she sometimes falls asleep first which I think is really cute, lol.

Another one would be how some people might perceive our age difference. But neither one of us actually finds it to be stressful. I recently had a strange and intense bout of emotional "down" period and briefly doubted the whole thing, but that was fortunately a temporary occurrence. One of our strengths is our excellent communication, so we were able to resolve the situation before it became something worse.

In the future, though, I'm sure we'll experience financial hurdles and such related to the travel expenses when meeting up and stuff, too. But that's not something we need to worry just yet. Maybe next year... lol

[kittyo9]

Our biggest challenge so far has been lack of money. Every other issue we've ever had pales in comparison to the trouble it has caused us. If my boyfriend lived here in the states, he'd be below the poverty line. Fortunately, he was able to get a job, but it pays very little and he earns about the same working 42.5 hours a week as I do working around 12-14 hours a week. Everything he has to pay for in the US is like 3-4 times more expensive to him (ex: Saving for tourist visa fees of $180 are the equivalent of saving like $500 to him).

Money has been the source of many arguments we have had and probably around 85% of the stress we've had to deal with. His lack of money has contributed to several things, including, I suspect, denial of his tourist visa (twice). It is a barrier to applying to graduate school-- he can barely afford to take the tests he needs to take or the application fees to apply to whatever schools he wants (grad school = he can come here and I can move in with him, so this is directly linked to our ability to close the distance). He can't afford to have me stay with him and he can't buy or send me the things he wants to give to me. It has made certain periods of our lives a living hell.

[Rachelm920]

I am by far my own worst enemy. I constantly overthink things and I tend to be insecure, which can make me worry too much about my relationship. He is the opposite and can keep me grounded when I get worked up and scared. I wish I could just be as level-headed as him. I have depression and anxiety so that has played a role in my insecurities. I worry he'll find someone better than me, even though he promised me forever on many separate occasions. When we are CD, things are always fine and I don't worry.

^This. Is me too. Haha

Haha I feel a little less crazy. xD

This is me as well. If anyone ever needs support, I'm here.

Me too! It makes me feel like 1000X better that I'm not the only one!

Another challenge for us is money to see each other. He works with the weather, so if the weather stinks he doesn't work or get paid. I'm a single mother so I'm always broke lol. Then there's the fact of taking time off of work to see each other. We haven't seen each other in almost 2 months (more than half our relationship!) I wish I could hop in the dolorian with Marty McFly and go back to the 2 weeks we had together at the end of summer and cherish them more....

[Laural007]

Our biggest challenge is the fact that we've never met, despite being in a relationship for almost 2 years. I wish I could look into the future and know for certain we are meant to be in this lifetime. I know we are soulmates just not sure if it's in our current lifetime.

[Neide]

3. ME. I am by far my own worst enemy. I constantly overthink things and I tend to be insecure, which can make me worry too much about my relationship. He is the opposite and can keep me grounded when I get worked up and scared. I wish I could just be as level-headed as him. I have depression and anxiety so that has played a role in my insecurities. I worry he'll find someone better than me, even though he promised me forever on many separate occasions. When we are CD, things are always fine and I don't worry.

This is exactly how I feel, word for word and 100% !

[Riyuki]

My biggest challenge is...frustration. My SO is going through a very tough and trying time in her life with money issues. She has episodes of depression and anxiety and she cannot find a job because she has developed a fear of being around people. Her mother is overprotective of her and wants to go whereever she is. Sadly in Feburary of this year, her father passed away and he was the sole breadwinner of the house. He left nothing for them and they literally are struggling to get by, getting $10 here and $20 there (which is immediately spent on bus fare...). I work a part time job at Jcpenney while trying to focus on getting into law school and my paycheck isn't even half decent. They have no full time positions available. So whenever I think about her, I think of happy times and possible happy futures but when I think about how much harder she has it in her life than I do, I feel like if I didn't need the pay check, I would just give it to them so that they can pay their rent, which they are heavily behind in. They have no heat because they can't pay their gas bill, etc etc.

I've been trying to help out by doing a few things here and there to the best of my abilities but...I dunno. I've even tried crowdfunding only to be turned down by people who believe that we are trying to use the money for other non-important things. You couldn't believe the frustration I had when I saw a donation pool for this couple who has animals and needed money to buy a couch that will resist animal damage... They easily were able to raise over like...$3000 or $4000 USD. I don't know what else to do for her and it frustrates the hell out of me each and everyday.

Sorry about all the details but..yeah..frustration. lol.