So I'll give a bit of backstory..
Firstly, this is the first LDR I've ever been in, and I have to say - it's a lot harder than anyone could have prepared me for!
I first met (we'll call him 'Dave') at the end of 2015 on an online chat site. We immediately hit it off and have spoken everyday for the last 8 and a bit months since, and were able to meet in May of this year. I live in Canada and he lives in Europe. I'll be going over there for 2 weeks in August.
His living situation has changed slightly since we started talking. When we first started talking, he was living on his own and we would stay up for hours talking on the phone. A few months after, he moved back to his parents. The amount we talk over the phone has significantly decreased since this move, however, we still keep in contact via text during the day.
I'll be honest, it's been difficult to go from talking over the phone almost every night to talking over the phone maybe 2-3 times per week. As I mentioned, we do text during the day but he generally takes awhile to answer back. We almost never have an actual conversation over text; he'll tell me he can't call tonight, we can message, then he takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to respond to each text, which makes holding a conversation near impossible. He says the app we use doesn't always notify him of messages (this is something I can confirm as it happens to me as well), but knowing this.. I would think he would check the app a bit more frequently? Idk.
Dave doesn't like talking on the phone when his parents are still awake, even though according to him they know about me, know he came and visited me, and know I'm coming to see him soon. The time difference is 5 hours (he's ahead) so we usually don't end up talking via phone until around midnight his time when his parents have gone to bed. Because of this, if we do get to chat, it's usually only for an hour or so because he's tired. He will also push back our call time to watch a movie or tv show, which in turn makes our conversation shorter as he still goes to bed around the same time.
Dave has had a friend, we'll call him 'John', who has been going through a bit of a tough time. Dave and John have been friends since they were very young, and have an incredibly close friendship. John had broken up with his girlfriend a few months back and has been torn up about it. To the point of obsession. Whenever Dave is with John and texting me, it appears as though ALL John talks about is his ex girlfriend. From my knowledge of the relationship, it's quite toxic and not in the best interest for John to try to rebuild this relationship.
They've also started spending a lot more time together; I've been ditched a few times when a phone call was planned because John 'really wanted him to come over' and so he goes. Dave often spends the night at John's place (he also lives with his parents) because it's more convenient than going back home..
One of my biggest issues is that he'll stay up until 5-6am his time, talking or playing video games or watching movies with John. The other night, when we had a phone call scheduled, John called Dave half drunk telling him he needed him. Dave went to meet John and ended up spending about 3 hours with him. It turns out John just wanted Dave to go drinking with him, and spent hours trying to convince him to go out with him. By the time Dave got home, we spoke for 5 minutes before he went to bed because he was tired. It was about 1 am his time.
When he visited, for the first few days we went to bed together (I had to work and didn't stay up super late, maybe 10-11pm). After about day 4, Dave started staying up until 3-4am on the computer while I slept alone in bed. This bothered me a lot and when I made mention of it, Dave said he couldn't sleep so he would stay up. In turn, this resulted in him waking up around 11am each day.
I'm a hard working professional, and feel like I'm back in high school again with the drama that has started to surround this situation. I don't want to be controlling, however, I do need attention and do need to feel like I'm wanted. I told him this about a week ago and he said he'll try to put aside more time for me. This hasn't really happened as of now.
There is a 2-year age difference (I'm 26, he's 24); I do not know if this is a factor in anything (Maturity level?) but felt it might be an important detail.
We also Skype maybe twice a month. He doesn't like taking pictures of himself, and doesn't seem to understand why I want him to send pictures of himself for me to see. I just want to see him, to try to feel like there's a bit less of a distance or to maybe make it feel more real. I don't really know how to explain this.
I do have BPD and anxiety, and know I can be needy and illogical at times, so I don't know if I'm overreacting over this? I know I have to give it some time before I can accurately judge whether or not he'll follow through with what he says.
Any suggestions/thoughts/opinions/advice on the matter?
Sorry for the long winded post!!!
Firstly, this is the first LDR I've ever been in, and I have to say - it's a lot harder than anyone could have prepared me for!
I first met (we'll call him 'Dave') at the end of 2015 on an online chat site. We immediately hit it off and have spoken everyday for the last 8 and a bit months since, and were able to meet in May of this year. I live in Canada and he lives in Europe. I'll be going over there for 2 weeks in August.
His living situation has changed slightly since we started talking. When we first started talking, he was living on his own and we would stay up for hours talking on the phone. A few months after, he moved back to his parents. The amount we talk over the phone has significantly decreased since this move, however, we still keep in contact via text during the day.
I'll be honest, it's been difficult to go from talking over the phone almost every night to talking over the phone maybe 2-3 times per week. As I mentioned, we do text during the day but he generally takes awhile to answer back. We almost never have an actual conversation over text; he'll tell me he can't call tonight, we can message, then he takes anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to respond to each text, which makes holding a conversation near impossible. He says the app we use doesn't always notify him of messages (this is something I can confirm as it happens to me as well), but knowing this.. I would think he would check the app a bit more frequently? Idk.
Dave doesn't like talking on the phone when his parents are still awake, even though according to him they know about me, know he came and visited me, and know I'm coming to see him soon. The time difference is 5 hours (he's ahead) so we usually don't end up talking via phone until around midnight his time when his parents have gone to bed. Because of this, if we do get to chat, it's usually only for an hour or so because he's tired. He will also push back our call time to watch a movie or tv show, which in turn makes our conversation shorter as he still goes to bed around the same time.
Dave has had a friend, we'll call him 'John', who has been going through a bit of a tough time. Dave and John have been friends since they were very young, and have an incredibly close friendship. John had broken up with his girlfriend a few months back and has been torn up about it. To the point of obsession. Whenever Dave is with John and texting me, it appears as though ALL John talks about is his ex girlfriend. From my knowledge of the relationship, it's quite toxic and not in the best interest for John to try to rebuild this relationship.
They've also started spending a lot more time together; I've been ditched a few times when a phone call was planned because John 'really wanted him to come over' and so he goes. Dave often spends the night at John's place (he also lives with his parents) because it's more convenient than going back home..
One of my biggest issues is that he'll stay up until 5-6am his time, talking or playing video games or watching movies with John. The other night, when we had a phone call scheduled, John called Dave half drunk telling him he needed him. Dave went to meet John and ended up spending about 3 hours with him. It turns out John just wanted Dave to go drinking with him, and spent hours trying to convince him to go out with him. By the time Dave got home, we spoke for 5 minutes before he went to bed because he was tired. It was about 1 am his time.
When he visited, for the first few days we went to bed together (I had to work and didn't stay up super late, maybe 10-11pm). After about day 4, Dave started staying up until 3-4am on the computer while I slept alone in bed. This bothered me a lot and when I made mention of it, Dave said he couldn't sleep so he would stay up. In turn, this resulted in him waking up around 11am each day.
I'm a hard working professional, and feel like I'm back in high school again with the drama that has started to surround this situation. I don't want to be controlling, however, I do need attention and do need to feel like I'm wanted. I told him this about a week ago and he said he'll try to put aside more time for me. This hasn't really happened as of now.
There is a 2-year age difference (I'm 26, he's 24); I do not know if this is a factor in anything (Maturity level?) but felt it might be an important detail.
We also Skype maybe twice a month. He doesn't like taking pictures of himself, and doesn't seem to understand why I want him to send pictures of himself for me to see. I just want to see him, to try to feel like there's a bit less of a distance or to maybe make it feel more real. I don't really know how to explain this.
I do have BPD and anxiety, and know I can be needy and illogical at times, so I don't know if I'm overreacting over this? I know I have to give it some time before I can accurately judge whether or not he'll follow through with what he says.
Any suggestions/thoughts/opinions/advice on the matter?
Sorry for the long winded post!!!
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