Don’t we all love a good long-distance romance? Yeah, nah!
I was in a long-distance relationship about 15 years ago. And after it ended, I was adamant that I would stay away from them.
Fast forward to 2.5 years ago, when my current partner and I walked into each other’s life. We were both based in Montreal when we met. But we knew from the first date that he was leaving in 6 months. And at the time, it was the perfect arrangement for both of us. We were both coming out of long-term relationships and weren’t ready to jump feet-first into something new. This was going to be a fun, temporary situation. It was the perfect plan!
But, of course, we ended up liking each other a bit more than expected! And here we are, 2.5 years later, separated by an ocean, but going strong nonetheless.
We’re fortunate to have jobs that allow us to spend almost half of the year together. But we still go weeks without seeing each other.
And if you’ve ever been in a long-distance relationship (and if you’re here right now, you probably are !), you know that staying connected to your partner and keeping the relationship alive is an everyday commitment.
My partner and I communicate a lot. We talk daily, multiple times a day, through texts, sharing videos, calling each other, being on FaceTime, etc. There’s not a day that goes by without us sharing.
And while this is already great, we were looking into finding other ways to connect. So here are 5 activities to try in your long-distance relationship to stay connected, feel closer to each other and have fun together even when apart:
1. Start Your Own Book Club 📖
Creating your 2 person book club is a great way to do an activity together that can still be done asynchronously. It’s simple, pick any novel, short story, comic, manga, etc, together, get yourself each a copy and dive into it.
The pace is up to you. You can read chapter by chapter, and wait for each other to complete it before moving forward ( this is what we do with my partner ) or wait until the end of the book altogether.
Discuss the end of each chapter, text each other when one of you finally catches up to that critical plot point and share your thoughts.
2. Work From Home Together 👨💻
I love this one. It really helped me at a time where the distance felt like a lot.
If you’re both able to work from home at least some days of the week, schedule a call together on a side app ( my partner and I use Zoom, so it doesn’t interfere with Teams which is what I use for work ). We both do our things and chat throughout the day. If one of us has a call, we’ll mute the Zoom call and go do our things.
It’s the exact same thing we do when we are physically in the same spot and both working from home. So it creates a sense of peace since it’s already something familiar. It makes us feel like we are physically together.
We try to do it once a week, maximum every two weeks. The frequency will depend on what feels right for your relationship.
3. Take a Museum Virtual Tour Together 🖼️
In the past few years, Museums and Art galleries have offered virtual tours of their vast permanent collections.
It’s a great way to discover exhibits and new artists without leaving your couch. You could be exploring a vast array of art pieces across the world like, today.
If you and your partner enjoy museum dates, you will feel right at home and cozy with this one. Simply pick a museum or a gallery around the world and aligned with your interests, and start exploring their virtual exhibits together. Share about your favorite pieces, and comment on each paintings, just like you would be doing in person.
4. Play Video Games Online Together 👾
I am a big gamer! My boyfriend isn’t, but he’s coming around.
Ok, this one might not be the most outside of the box. But even if you aren’t a gamer, you can still find games that will fit your interests and relationships.
Playing together is a great way to connect. No matter if you like more competitive games, or just enjoy playing cozy and relaxing games, there are a ton of co-op games that you can choose from.
If you both have consoles or a PC to play, you’re already all setup.
But if like my partner and I only one of you has a decent setup to play games together, you can still play together without it being co-op. My boyfriend and I were playing Slay The Spire for ours with me just sharing my screen and us both making decisions on how to build our deck and how to approach combats.
5. Paint/Draw each other while on FaceTime 🎨
We have yet to try this one but it is on my bucket list. I was inspired by the trend about couple sitting accross each other and painting each other while just chilling together.
As a crafty person, I love the idea. We have so many things to do that we haven’t gotten around to this one but it’s a great way to spend quality time with your partner while doing a cute activity together
What do you do in your long-distance relationship to feel close to your partner during the times you are away?