When to become 'exclusive'?

[melarie]

Why would anyone want to get involved in something as serious as a LDR, if they weren't hoping to eventually meet and be together.

I don't think an open relationship necessarily means that they aren't committed to being together. They just don't see the point in denying themselves sex as long as it completely casual. For some people, it's completely possible to have sex outside their relationship and both be able to handle it. I could never do it for a lot reasons, but I definitely understand it and see the benefits of it as long as no one is feeling incompetent or threatened.

[BlueCat]

This really is a personal opinion issue. If you are both happy and feel secure in your relationship while still have sex outside of it with other people, then that's fine. But if you start to feel like you don't want him doing that, that's when you need to bring it up with him and decide if you want to become exclusive, but then you have to really commit to it and trust each other to do it. If you suddenly decided to have a one night stand, you would definitely need your SO's permission for it.

If you guys are both comfortable with the relationship as it stands, and you have no visits in the near future, then just keep doing it if it's working for you.