12 Little Ways Couples In Long-Distance Relationships Stay Connected

Keeping the spark alive in a relationship can be tough as it is, let alone when you and your partner are hundreds or thousands of miles apart. We stumbled across this fantastic post By Kelsey Borresen for Huffington Post and knew our readers would enjoy it as much as we did.

Couples in long-distance relationships often face a particular set of challenges: different time zones (it could be early morning in one place and bedtime in another), shoddy cell service or WiFi connection on top of the heartache of going long stretches of time without seeing each other face-to-face.

While maintaining an “LDR” isn’t easy, it isn’t impossible. And if you can weather the challenges, you’ve likely built a strong foundation for the future of the relationship.

“To all those thinking whether they can handle a long-distance relationship, my answer is: it’s definitely doable, as long as you stay committed, loyal and willing to cut the distance short one day,” writer Olga Baker told HuffPost. “Being far from each other is definitely a challenge, but it’s overcoming such obstacles that makes love stories special, memorable and treasured. If the person is right for you, the sacrifice will be well worth it.”

Below, people who have had firsthand experience with long-distance relationships reveal what they did to keep their bond strong when they were far apart.

1. They make it a point to talk every day, even when they’re busy or not in the mood.

“In the four years that we were in a long-distance relationship, we talked almost every day. Sometimes our call lasted three hours, sometimes 15 minutes. But we understood how important it was, so we set it, by default, in our calendars. We didn’t question it, and we did it regardless of whether we felt like it or not.” ― Milena Nguyen

2. They separate update conversations from connection conversations.

“Like most couples, the bulk of our texts, calls and Skypes are daily life check-ins: How was work? What did the doctor say? Did you see that news story? How are the kids? Important, but not very intimate. We balance those updates with deeper, less-distracted conversations that help us remember we’re still a couple in love — not just efficient life partners. We ask: What’s going on in your heart? Or talk about trips we want to take or what we love about each other.” ― Cris Gladly

3. They schedule ‘date nights’ when they eat a meal and watch a show or movie together over FaceTime.

It can feel a little cheesy to plan digital time together, sure. But if you were in the same place, you would often carve out time to do nice, small stuff with your partner. This might include cooking and eating together, watching movies or a TV show you’re bingeing, or even playing online games or card games (no cheating! And no skipping ahead in the TV shows either). Coming up with long-distance relationship (LDR) date ideas can feel like a bit of a struggle at first, and there aren’t too many games for couples who are long distance that come to mind immediately. But if you put in a bit of effort, you’ll soon find it puts a real spark into your relationship, even if you’re miles apart.

Care packages for long-distance relationships are one way to ensure you are on the same page for date night. You could take turns sending care packages that include treats, recipes to cook together, games to play, cute notes — anything you can think of! But the key to a great LDR care package is making sure it connects to something you guys can do (and bond over) either on the phone or on Skype, Zoom, or FaceTime. 

4. They send each other postcards and love letters.

“During our long-distance relationship, we sometimes didn’t see each other for as long as four months. Getting ‘real mail’ was awesome because we got to pick out postcards for the other, and there’s nothing like getting surprise mail when usually all we got in the mail was boring stuff.” ― Becca Siegel and Dan Gold

5. They start a new project together.

“Aside from the conventional emails, WhatsApps, Google Hangouts and FaceTimes, we started an Instagram account as a project that we could work on together during long distance! We called it @halfhalftravel because it’s always half of what each of us were doing, wherever in the world we each were located as we traveled apart from each other for 12 months. This was both challenging and fun!” ― Siegel and Gold

6. They find little excuses to celebrate each other instead of waiting for a big occasion.

“At every instance we can, my husband celebrates me and I return the support. Whether it’s the huge honor of being his ‘Woman Crush Wednesday’ (WCW) on Facebook, him sending me ‘just because’ flowers or him just making me feel appreciated during difficult times. By celebrating one another and celebrating our personal, our children’s or our loved one’s accolades, we’re able to remain focused on us and reflect on the many blessings we have.” ― Tren B.

7. They hide little notes in each other’s suitcases after a visit.

“When we are packing his suitcase before he leaves, I’ll write little notes and stash them in different parts of his bag. That way, when he goes to grab a pair of socks or his shower stuff, he’ll get a little reminder of how much I miss and love him and how much he means to me.” ― Kieran Gregg

9. They do their favorite activities at the same time over video chat so it feels like they’re doing them together.

“Couples in long-distance relationships often feel deprived of togetherness, the feeling of sharing an experience. Thanks to technology, we can make up for it. Our favorite things to experience together were cooking together and watching a movie together. How? Simply keep your audio or video chat on.” ―Nguyen

10. They send each other care packages or surprise gifts in the mail.

“I used to draw often for her and ship gifts directly to her home, like flowers or other kinds of goodies. I’m always kind of amazed about how easy it is to put together gifts even when you’re so far apart!” ― Simone Ferriero

11. They make the most of the time they have together in person.

“When we flew out to meet each other, we always tried to maximize our time together. We would travel, try new foods, meet each other’s friends and families and essentially do everything to grow deeper into one another’s lives. Then during the months apart that followed (long, loooooong months), all this experience would give us something to reminisce about ― and to look forward to.” ― Baker

12. They utilize technology to find new ways to connect.

“We used the app Couple, which had a cute feature called ‘thumb kiss’ where you could see where your partner’s thumb was on the screen in live time and when both of your fingers met, it would vibrate (or ‘kiss’). There was also an app called LokLok where we drew cute little messages and such on each other’s lock screens. We used basically anything we could find technology-wise to help us feel connected outside of the standard call or text.” ― Tabby Freeman

f course, inspiration sometimes runs dry. Date ideas for long-distance relationships can be challenging. And like we said, keeping the spark alive long distance is tough. You’ll face distractions, derailments, and messed-up plans, as well as a plain lack of ideas sometimes. Technology has made long-distance date ideas — and long-distance dating generally — easier in many ways. But it has also made them more difficult in a way. There’s pressure to be on every day (and yes, you should chat daily, but you may not always be at your best) and to come up with a brilliant stream of date ideas.

You should definitely keep things personal with care packages and letters. You should also meet up whenever you can, even if it’s a flying visit. But you can also draft in outside help! Our Digital Date Nights are an excellent option for hassle-free, affordable long-distance relationship date ideas delivered right to you once every four weeks. They’re themed and really different each month, so you won’t get bored. They come with games or recipes to print out (depending on the theme), so you can use them again if you and your partner loved a particular month’s theme. Romcom bingo is definitely one that can be relied upon as a regular, for example. And the best part? We choose them so that you don’t have to exhaust yourself trying to think of something incredibly thoughtful, romantic, and original to do on date night. Well, at least for one night a month! You should probably be going on more than one date every 30 days, FYI.

Whether you already use our date boxes or are new to the process, a digital date box could be just the thing to relight that fire in your LDR. Or at least get rid of your planning headache. And remember, the most important part of a relationship, whether long distance or not, is spending time together and being emotionally close. You can do that in a bunch of ways, especially with the use of instant messaging apps and video chats. Making time for fun with the person you love when they're miles away has literally never been easier. So what are you waiting for? Plan a digital date night of your own, or subscribe and we'll do it for you. Or heck, do both!