Having a HUGE problem with long distance. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

[andyydao]

Hi everyone!

I've been doing long distance on and off with my girlfriend for about 1 year now and I have 1 consistent problem every-time. Taking photos throughout the day for my girlfriend is a huge inconvenience and eventually I just stop taking photos completely. Let me explain. The whole process of taking a photo would look something like this:



See something cool -> take my phone out -> open snapchat -> take a picture -> write some stuff -> choose who to send picture too -> send



This whole process takes about 15 seconds, and I take around 5-7 photos everyday. There's a lot of friction and inconvenience in this process and no matter how hard I try I eventually stop taking photos for my girlfriend. This becomes even worse in social situations e.g. out with friends or colleagues for lunch, it's super unsocial to just take my phone out and take a picture. My girlfriend is getting upset with me on this and we've had a couple of fights on this, so any help would be greatly appreciated!!



Question:

1. I find snapchat adds a lot of friction and unnecessary steps when I'm just using it to take photos for my girlfriend e.g. choosing which friend to send the photo too (I always send the photo to my girlfriend anyway). Are there any photo taking apps similarly to snapchat but solely aimed at long distance couples?
2. Do you guys also have the same problem? If so, how are you overcoming it?

Any help would from the LDR community would be awesome!!!

Thanks for reading

[autumn1790]

We use FB Messenger for pretty much all communication, and it's pretty simple to send photos. Do you have to send the photos right away? What if you just took it with your phone camera and sent it later in a free moment? Communication should be fun, not burdensome. Obviously, you want to meet her wants, but it has to work for you, too. Maybe I don't really understand her view because receiving photos isn't that important for me, but it seems like there should be some sort of balance between what she wants and how you live your life. Not sure if that makes any sense, but sending best wishes!

[TJ-LJ]

I don't believe this is a "huge" problem as your title suggests. In fact, it's very insignificant. But alas...
Why does your girlfriend demand that you constantly take photos of your day-to-day life and share them straight away? I understand that being long distance is hard, and to be able to share your life through pictures or text with your partner can really be a big part of the relationship, but it shouldn't take over your life. Honestly, I could not handle having to take photos multiple times a day every single day just to share them with my partner. If there's ever something really exciting or interesting that you want to share, share it. But not just every little random thing. And certainly you shouldn't be letting it impact your life.
As the other poster said, there needs to be a balance here. And again as said, why not take photos when the moment calls for it, and send them in your spare time or to start a conversation.
I think you definitely need to discuss this bizarre need that your girlfriend has, and come to a compromise.