Every relationship poses its natural challenges. But with long-distance couples, there are a few other specific challenges that come along that will have to be worked through.
The most obvious one is the physical distance. With long-distance relationships, you can’t just call each other up to grab a coffee, give them a hug, or go on a walk together in the park. Things look a little different. There are a lot of phone calls, FaceTime chats, texts, and overall just trying to do your best to connect when you’re far away from each other.
There are an estimated 14 million people in the United States that are in long-distance relationships. Of that large number, almost four million are married couples! That might seem shocking, but many married couples are in this position due to military duty, being college students, or job reasons. For engaged couples, about 75% have been, at some point in their relationship, long distance. These numbers go to show that while, yes, long-distance is hard, it is absolutely possible!
Missing your long-distance girlfriend is inevitable and that feeling can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes you just wish you could hold her hand or watch a movie with her by your side. Those feelings are natural and valid but deciding to do long-distance with someone you really care for is worth it, even on the hard days.
But what do you do when those feelings of longing for your girlfriend come up? We’ve got you covered, don’t worry! Read on to see what you can do when you miss your girlfriend, including activities you can do together, a gift that will make her smile every day, and how you two can make sure you make your long-distance relationship work with one another—even miles away.
Date Night...Virtually!
Who said anything about not being able to have date nights? You can still plan out a sweet and thoughtful date night for your girlfriend even from afar. Make it a weekly, every other week, or monthly routine so you have a special night to look forward to. Choose your date idea based on both of your interests, but to get your creative juices flowing, here are a few ideas you could try!
Movie Night: Tired of lagging movies when you guys try to watch a movie together? Try Teleparty instead! It’s a great streaming service that plays the movie at the exact time, so no lagging, and there’s even a chatbox so you can talk about movies or TV shows on Netflix in real-time. To make these even more special, use snail mail to send over a box of goodies like popcorn, her favorite movie snacks, and whatever else you’d think she’d love, and spend a relaxing night together!
Make Dinner With a Glass of Wine: Make your favorite dish together through video chat! Decide on a recipe beforehand and go get all the supplies you need at your local supermarket and get to cooking. Make it fun like a competition to see who can finish the fastest, or make it slow and relaxing as you make it simultaneously. Send her a bottle of wine (and buy one for yourself too) and drink it with your delicious meal. Set the mood even more by lighting candles and turning the lights down. It’ll feel like she’s there face-to-face even when she can’t be.
Exclusive Book Club: Do you two love to read? Make an exclusive book club that only the two of you are invited to. Pick a book at the start of each month and read it throughout the month. At a chosen date, video chat and talk about all the juicy details! You could even have themed meetings that make it even more fun and have snacks that fit the theme, like cucumber sandwiches and tea for a Victorian-themed book club night. Be creative and make it memorable!
Presentation Party: Does either of you have a hobby, habit, or interest that you’re kinda obsessed with? Share this with your partner by making a fun and creative PowerPoint! Video chat as you go through each slide and educate them on your obsession with horror movies, the history of rap music, how TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram have been sensationalized, the Hemsworth brothers, or any other niche topic that interests you. Not only will you learn a lot about each other, but it’s also a hilarious way to spend an evening with your long-distance partner.
Art Night: Maybe you both are artistically inclined, or maybe just one of you is. Either way, make it a fun date night by getting canvases, a few colors of paint, a paintbrush, and paint the same photo to see whose is better at the end. Do this over a video call so you can chat the whole time. It’s a fun way to spend time together and see their artistic side shine.
These are just a few of the many ideas out there. Make it personable and creative! Better yet, you could plan these date nights as surprises if your girlfriend is someone who loves those kinds of things. But even if it is a collaborative effort, the most important part is that you two are spending time together and doing fun activities in the process. This is your reminder to do something special; no excuses!
Send Handwritten Letters
Make handwritten letters or postcards sent through the mail popular again by sending your girlfriend one each month, each week, or however frequently you’d like. Maybe you’re not the sentimental type or don’t think you’re good at writing words, or maybe you’re the next Shakespeare; regardless of which one you relate to, writing a handwritten letter is extremely sweet and intentional.
When those inevitable feelings of missing your girlfriend come up, pick up a pen and paper and begin to write all those feelings. Let the page be where you spill your guts out. It will not only help to release all of those bottled-up emotions, but it will also show your girlfriend how much you love her by taking the time to write her a letter.
Add in the envelope some extra goodies like a few flowers, a gift card to her favorite coffee shop, or a silly doodle you worked on. These small gifts will communicate so much to her—one that you miss her, two that you love her, and three that she’s worth the distance.
Surprise Her
Maybe it has been an overly extended amount of time since you’ve seen your girlfriend and you’re itching to see her. Surprise her by hopping on a plane, jumping in the car, and showing up on her doorstep. Of course, with surprises usually comes a lot of planning, so plan ahead by saving up or booking the necessary tickets.
This could either be a spontaneous trip on a random weekend, or you could make it even more special by surprising her on her birthday, a holiday, or on your anniversary. This would be a great present for the both of you, to be able to spend a special day with each other. Coordinate with her family and friends and wait in anticipation for the big surprise. Her shocked expression will make the moment even better and worth the planning!
Get Her a Lovebox
Are you wanting to get your girlfriend the perfect gift but can’t think of anything? Don’t stress; we’ve got this handled. The Lovebox is known as the world’s first digital love note messenger. Designed in the shape of a box, this gift makes communication unique and exciting by making it personalized and interactive.
Through the app, you send off your messages to the Lovebox and the heart on the front of the box will spin, notifying your girlfriend that she has a new, sweet message from you! All she has to do is lift the lid to see it revealed. The Lovebox offers a wide variety of ways to send a message, you can do any of the following:
- Send photos directly to it, as well as directly draw on the photos to add extra customization to it
- Digital drawings can be sent that are sure to make her crack a smile at your artistic abilities
- Completely customizable stickers that you can design and send her way
- Either schedule the message to be sent out at a certain time or get reminders directly to your phone to send out a new message
- Save all of your love notes on the app
Customers can’t stop gushing about it, one even saying, “This is one of the coolest items to keep your relationship strong! Sure you could text your loved ones, but the Lovebox creates anticipation.”
When you miss your girlfriend, pick up the Lovebox and send her a sweet note, drawing, or sticker. The same old format of communication through texting can get boring sometimes. Spice it up a little bit by sending her messages through this great gift that she’ll cherish forever. And when she gets your message, she can spin the heart back which will send you a waterfall of hearts directly to your app, so you know she saw it and misses you just as much.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
If we weren’t clear enough...communicate with her! Sometimes, when we feel overwhelmed with a sad emotion such as missing someone, we can tend to do a load of different things, such as:
- Shut down and close up
- Let jealousy overtake us
- Make an irrational decision
- Become angry, grumpy, or impatient
Due to the reality that you two are in a long-distance relationship, communication mostly has to occur over text or on the phone. Not being able to see someone with your own eyes, feel the energy they’re giving off, or physically touch them can lead to a lot of assumption making and feelings getting hurt.
This is why placing healthy (emphasis on healthy) communication tactics in the relationship is so important! When any of the above begin to happen to you, be open and honest with where you’re at. She will appreciate that so much more than if you hide your emotions from her, which is bound to lead to an argument down the road.
A few ways to practice healthy communication:
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Active listening: Make sure you are actively listening to her thoughts and engaging with them. This would include showing your paying attention through eye contact and nodding, listening to her instead of thinking about what you’re going to say next, and not interrupting her while she’s still speaking.
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Give active, constructive communication: An example of this type of communication could be saying, “That’s great! I’m so happy for you. Tell me more about it!” Whereas passive, constructive communication sounds more like, “Oh, that is good.” Being equally interested and engaged in conversation is vital for them to feel loved.
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Avoid emotional reasoning: Emotional reasoning happens when you feel an emotion and instantly believe that it must be a fact. An example of this could be, getting off the phone with her and not feeling like the disagreement was resolved. This then jumps to conclusions such as, “She doesn’t love me anymore” or “She never listens to me”. These are dangerous assumptions to make and happen a lot with our emotions. Take a step back instead and reevaluate instead.
Through studies on long-distance relationships, it has been found that openly discussing the relationship and giving assurance of commitment to the relationship are great ways to ensure healthy communication and an overall healthy relationship.
Be courteous and honest with your girlfriend when you begin to feel any negative emotions. Assuming things about the relationship or how they might be feeling is a slippery slope and isn’t worth your time stressing about. Instead, call her and ask if you could talk through some things. She’ll most likely love this approach over the other options.
Worth the Distance
Long-distance relationships may not be ideal, but they are a reality that many people have to go through. If you find the right person, not even distance can get in the way of that. There will of course be times when you miss them and wish you could be with them in person, but in the end, they’re worth the distance. Love isn’t bound to certain miles and that’s a great thing.
Sources:
Long-Distance Relationship Statistics – What are the stats?
Missing Your Partner Sucks & These 8 People Nail Exactly How Tough It Feels | Elite Daily
7 Ways to Improve Communication in Relationships | Positive Psychology
