{"id":43215,"date":"2025-07-02T01:25:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T07:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?post_type=blog&p=43215"},"modified":"2025-06-25T13:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T19:54:08","slug":"make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/","title":{"rendered":"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve daydreamed about going back in time and talking to my younger self. I\u2019d probably say things like: \u201cDon\u2019t be such a perfectionist because you\u2019re not perfect,\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t take on so much in high school and college,\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t run in heels or you\u2019ll break your ankle\u201d (true story).<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve never imagined telling younger me is how I met my fianc\u00e9: via text. Like most 20-somethings, I had tried dating apps and hated them. They seemed fake and impersonal. So any sort of relationship over the phone \u2014 especially long distance \u2014 sounded like an impossibility to me.<\/p>\n

But Robbie and I connected over text after a friend asked if she could give him my number. And while being 500 miles apart has definitely had its challenges, it has also shown me many unexpected blessings.<\/p>\n

Ya\u2019ll gotta talk<\/h4>\n

If you want to get to know someone through text, phone call or Facetime, you must talk to them. A lot<\/em>. If Robbie and I hadn\u2019t communicated so much in the first few weeks of meeting, I\u2019m sure we wouldn\u2019t be engaged right now.<\/p>\n

All this talk about talking may seem intimidating, but it\u2019s such a gift. By being intentional and focused in your conversations, you can learn a lot about a person\u2019s values, character, background and future hopes and dreams \u2014 all without physical distractions and awkwardness.<\/p>\n

My fianc\u00e9 and I just had our phones, so all we could do was talk (and play the occasional two-player phone game). And talk we did. It gave us great insight that helped us make informed decisions about our future potential. Now that we\u2019re engaged, my prayer is that our constant communication<\/a> is a mainstay and continues into our marriage.<\/p>\n

Distance makes the heart grow fonder (for real!)<\/h4>\n

All right . . . I\u2019ll be honest. Long-distance dating has its advantages, but it\u2019s also hard. If I had a dollar for every time Robbie and I wished we were in the same room instead of different states, I could pay off my 2018 Nissan Versa. Unfortunately, I\u2019m still making car payments, and I am still an eight-hour drive away from my fianc\u00e9.<\/p>\n

As sucky as being apart from your fianc\u00e9, boyfriend or girlfriend is, it makes those times when you are<\/em> together that much better. Think about it. When you see the same person almost every day, you begin to take their presence for granted. Of course, you still love them and are happy whenever you see them. But you may not think much about how amazing it is that they are in the same room as you.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, whenever Robbie and I meet up after a month apart, it\u2019s the biggest deal in the universe. I used to think the phrase, \u201cAbsence makes the heart grow fonder\u201d was stupid. Now, I see that the creator of the saying had a point<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Intentionality sets you up for success<\/h4>\n

Not surprisingly, distance makes intentionality in a relationship harder, which means being dedicated to growth and accountability in your long-distance relationship is a huge accomplishment.<\/p>\n

Intentionality while dating long-distance can look like a lot of things: making decisions with the other person in mind, touching base to see how you both are doing, keeping short accounts and handling conflict when it arises, or blocking off three hours every weekend for a dinner date over Facetime.<\/p>\n

To be honest, sometimes it\u2019s hard for me to stay intentional with and accountable to my fianc\u00e9. As someone who\u2019s been on her own for a long time, it\u2019s easy for me to do my own thing and deal with my struggles and frustrations alone. But now that I have someone else, I take him into consideration anytime I have Friday night plans or get overwhelmed with anxiety. It\u2019s now second nature for me to tell Robbie anything that\u2019s going on with me. Practicing selflessness and accountability while dating and engaged will help you carry those practices into marriage.<\/p>\n

Long-distance dating isn\u2019t for everyone, and some of you hoping for a boyfriend or girlfriend may never experience it. However, if like me you wrote it off completely, maybe you should take that crumbled-up piece of paper out of your trashcan and write it back in as a possibility. It can be tough sometimes, but if it\u2019s God\u2019s way for you to meet the guy or girl He has for you, you will not only survive, you\u2019ll thrive. And you\u2019ll have gained some valuable skills \u2014 and blessings \u2014 in the process.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":43217,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43215","blog","type-blog","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dating","category-relationships"],"yoast_head":"\nMake the Most of Long-Distance Dating - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Boundless\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/\",\"name\":\"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating - Boundless\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-02T07:25:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"a long-distance dating couple, hugging at the airport\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Blog Posts\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/\",\"name\":\"Boundless\",\"description\":\"Find your place. Focus your future.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Boundless\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/boundless-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/boundless-logo.png\",\"width\":1201,\"height\":289,\"caption\":\"Boundless\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating - Boundless","description":"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating","og_description":"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/","og_site_name":"Boundless","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org","og_image":[{"width":1500,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/","url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/","name":"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating - Boundless","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp","datePublished":"2025-07-02T07:25:54+00:00","description":"Dating across different cities, states or even countries is possible if you lean into the benefits of long-distance relationships.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating-681e15af8a26b.webp","width":1500,"height":1000,"caption":"a long-distance dating couple, hugging at the airport"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/make-the-most-of-long-distance-dating\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog Posts","item":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Make the Most of Long-Distance Dating"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/","name":"Boundless","description":"Find your place. Focus your future.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#organization","name":"Boundless","url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/boundless-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/boundless-logo.png","width":1201,"height":289,"caption":"Boundless"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/boundless.org"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/43215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/43215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}