With the Easter holidays just around the corner, for a lot of couples this will mean going long-distance and not seeing your partner for over a month. If you’re a university couple, going from Durham – where your partner is often within walking distance and you can see them whenever you want – to being teetotal for a month can seem like a distressing and foreboding task. But with the right mindset and a few handy tips, you’ll see the holidays fly by (though hopefully not before you get through all those summatives and revision).
Make Time to Talk
Whether it’s a weekly Skype session or a phone call every few days, setting aside time dedicated to talking to your partner ensures that you make time for your relationship, no matter how busy you are.
Stream a Movie/TV Show Together
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Sites like Watch2Gether and Let’s Gaze are designed for people who want to watch things together while not being together. The sites provide synchronised video streaming to ensure you’re watching the same thing at the same time and depending on the site, will provide a chat box or the option of a video call to allow you to interact with your partner as you’re watching. It’s the perfect way to keep watching your favourite shows, even when you’re apart.
Online Gaming
Not for everyone, but if you and your partner have a game that you both enjoy that is available online, it can be a fun way to bond and communicate with your partner when you’re apart. Also a great way to improve your teamwork/play against each other and have some healthy competition.
Meet Them Half-way
If your relationship really puts the long in long-distance and you just live too far away to visit each other, meeting half-way is a fun way to compromise. Choosing somewhere in-between where you both live and exploring a new place together makes for an exciting date idea and helps to combat those long-distance blues.
Phone Countdown
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
An idea that may be vomit-inducing to some, but if you are really struggling with missing your partner, having a countdown on your phone or calendar to when you next see your partner can help. It helps you keep perspective that in the grand scheme of things it’s not that long until you’ll see them again and helps keep you excited as it gets closer and closer to when you will see them next. I recommend the Countdown widget as you can have it on your home screen as a cute reminder whenever you look at your phone.
Focus on Yourself
Finally, if you’re feeling miserable and missing your partner, take some time to treat yourself as a distraction. Meeting up with your friends and doing something fun always acts as a great distraction and helps to remind you that there are plenty of other people in your life who bring you happiness, other than your significant other.
At the end of the day, having time away from your partner is healthy and these long university holidays are a good preparation for post-uni life, when you may have to go long-distance for much longer. Just remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder…
Photo by Oziel Gómez on Unsplash