what would you say the 2 biggest challenges of LDRs are?

[Zephii]

For us? Hmmm..
1) Sleeping alone.
2) Keeping the distance closed and the constant fear that something will go wrong and we will be apart again.

[kat4301]

The hardest things would definitely be the jealousy. It wasn't so much about him hanging with other girls, but I was so jealous when he would go out and do things without me. I was so used to our life together then it became two separate lives and it was gut-wrenching. The other thing would be that moment when its time to leave after a visit. I could not shake that pit in my stomach every time we are together knowing that soon enough we wouldn't be. Won't miss that at all once its all over.

[dglynn77]

Loneliness and not being able to talk things out in person. Sometimes small things can cause problems that you KNOW you could fix if you were just talking face to face!

[11MikesGirl21]

Communication when it's not face to face and sleeping alone.

[WakeUpSusie]

1. Loneliness for a romantic companion. I can honestly say I was never really lonely when I was away at school because I had (have!) kickass friends, but I really missed having him around when I needed someone to snuggle with when I was feeling down.

2. Getting frustrated with not having said romantic partner in close vicinity. Most days I was fine with it, even grateful for it it, because it gave me time to focus on ME, school, and developing relationships with friends without having to balance. But there were definitley days I was just pissed off or hormonal or sad and wondered if it all was worth it. Luckily, I always decided that it was, and we made it though four years of distance and are engaged to be married in October!

[Biscous]

I believe the two biggest pragmatic challenges for me are:

1) Money - I moved to Texas for a new career opportunity, but I feel like I have to play 'catch up' after being unemployed for a while. Definitely seeing my girlfriend and accommodating her when we see each other puts a strain on my finances. This sometimes makes me think at this point in my life right now should I just focus on my career and be alone personally. I honestly can say if we broke up that I wouldn't want to start a new relationship with anyone and would want to be by myself for a long time.

2) Fears/Reservations - One of my biggest fears of the LDR I'm currently in is I fear that we both might be moving on or drifting apart from each other's lives. We communicate a lot - I probably have close to 10,000 texts between her and I that I saved, we talk on a daily basis and Skype once or twice a week. So why do I worry? That's just a fear I have to deal with. Others fear about their partner cheating, but I don't fear that due to our relationship being so well rooted. That's just something I have to deal with. Fear is something that cannot stifle me in my relationship if we want to be with each other.

[alesitag]

1.- NOT KNOWING: I must say I hate not knowing things. I need to know what's happening, what am I gonna deal with, how am I supposed to react (that's the main reason I joined the forum actually), what's the next step and the next step after that. If there's something unknown to me, I'll research about it until I'm satisfied with the information I've got. Being in and LDR is like walking in the dark to me, because I'm giving my heart to someone I've never seen in person, I don't know how the connection we share will translate when we first meet, I don't know if he's gonna like me when he sees me (of course he knows how I look like and he's told me he felt attracted to me from the very first time he saw my photo, but he's also worried I'm not going to like him either... a bit apprehensiveness from both sides perhaps? LOL), I don't know if his family (HIS MOM) will like me, which has always been a major concern to me since they're realy close... I just don't know too many things and I cannot do anything about it but to talk to him and wish for the best.

Besides not knowing how is it gonna be when we finally meet, we have realized there's no way for us to know what's going on with each other if we're not at home or at work where we can chat or call. My cell phone is very basic (no Internet connection of any kind, no camera, no music, no games... basically, it's just a plastic thing that can make phone calls lol), it doesn't support international texts and right now I can't afford upgrading to a better plan or buy a fancier phone. On the other hand, his cell phone is off because he cannot afford it at the time.

2.- JEALOUSY/TRUST/LONELINESS ISSUES: We're both very sensitive people, so we have experienced some issues on this matter, me being the one feeling lonely, he being the one feeling jealous.

I've never dealt with jealousy issues, I'm usually not a jealous person and he says he's usually not like that, but since there's so much distance and there are times when we don't know what's going on with each other (for more information please read no. 1) his mind starts playing tricks on him (he just confessed he was going nuts 3 weekends ago, because we weren't able to talk for more than 24 hours and he thought I got back with my ex).

For me, it's harder to deal with loneliness... I do just fine most of the week while I'm at work and with my friends, but on weekends I feel a bit lonely since He spends most of daytime sleeping (he works night shifts on weekends) and I don't seem to find anything to do. I watch TV as much as I can, watch movies, clean around the house, take long naps, have some "me" time (doing my nails, taking care of my skin and all that girly stuff) but it's not enough sometimes