From the moment we met, there were hundreds of miles between us, and during that first year we tested the waters to see if it was something we could make work. Crazily enough, we felt it worth the small windows of [excellent] time we spent together to keep it going. We travelled by car, plane and train, to see each other at least once a month and kept it up until we finally decided to “move in together”… by which we mean we sometimes spend more than a week at a time together. Over the years, we’ve had to get creative with spending time together. This post lists or favourite ways of keeping out long distance relationship afloat.

So time and time again people ask us, “How do you guys do it??” And the answer is, “It isn’t easy, but we make it work!”

It’s funny to think at one point, we lived a mere 140 km apart (that’s 87 miles to you American folk). And now, too often, we find ourselves over 1000 km apart (650 miles). If there’s one thing about a long distance relationship it’s that they definitely aren’t for everyone and they are HARD WORK!

We’ve put in a lot of time and effort over the years to mold it into the fantastic beast that it is today. What people don’t realize is, in this day and age, it’s easier to make a long distance relationship work! With modern technology at hand, we’ve been able to do a lot of things that couples do with each other every day. Here are some of the ways we’ve kept the relationship alive and highly recommend for anyone in a relationship spending time apart, even if it’s while your both at work during the day:

grocery shop together

This first one can be a little tricky depending on what’s on your list and how much time you have to spare. It’s easy to get lost in the aisles while chatting about other things that are going on in your lives. We find it best to go in with a list to minimize distractions.

You can add an element of fun to it with the Ibotta app. This [awesome]  coupon app will have you looking for deals all over the store. If you are ‘Teammates’ in the app, it introduces a friendly competition graph where you can see who has saved more money. Use our referral code (hpkyhkm) and get a $5 welcome bonus! 

Also, if you’re both shopping for the same thing even better! And, it can always lead to…

Cook together

Here’s one of our go-to’s. Find a recipe you are both into. Figure out what you need to make it happen and set up a time to do it! We set ourselves up in the kitchen (usually propping our phones up against a can of beans or the coffee maker) and hang out on Facetime or Skype while we follow the recipe together, step by step. We even prepared an entire thanksgiving meal together! Complete with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and a green bean casserole! (Note: There were leftovers for days, for both of us). An even easier way to do this nowadays, especially if you struggle with the grocery shopping concept, is to sign up for one of those meal delivery services (Blue Apron, Home Chef, Hello Fresh etc.)

**TIP: Google a promo code for any of these to get a discount on your first delivery!

Watch Movies Together

(or check out a TV series)
To be completely honest, we don’t watch a lot of television. We don’t even subscribe to cable. But with Netflix, Amazon Prime and RedBox, who needs it? This way we can pick a movie or show and plan a date! We usually do it while on Facetime or Skype because it’s more fun to watch each other’s facial reactions to what’s going on. Just prop the phone up against the screen you’re viewing and watch away!

spend hours on the phone together

YEP, literally hours. I think the longest we ever went was over 4 – in one straight shot! But on a  normal day, we generally spend 1-2 hours cumulatively over the day.  Of  course, we have days where we get busy and an hour is pushing it but we make an effort to say ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ at a minimum.

Play a board game

It would seem that pretty much every board game that we played growing up has a digital version these days. It’s even easier if you both have Messenger, because they have games built right in! Some fun ones we have tried are: Words with Friends, Yahtzee, Draw Something and Boggle. There are plenty more out there. Plus it makes phone calls even more fun when you can s*** talk with each other over who’s winning.  Phil is a good loser.

fall asleep together

I’ll admit, I didn’t love this at first but it grew on me after a while. It stopped being about getting frustrated that the other (Phil) was dozing off while you were talking and more about your voice being the last thing they heard before falling asleep.

Spotify-a-gram

This is a fun one if you share a Spotify account like we do. When you open the app and it’s active, it will notify you that Spotify is currently being used on another device, but it still let’s you select music and play it! I’ll be in the middle of listening to a playlist when suddenly “Love Me Tender” by Elvis Presley, or something of the flavor, randomly comes on. I love these moments <3

work out together

OK, maybe not on the treadmill or while lifting weights (though you could!). There are plenty of fitness apps out there that you can download and use together while tracking each other’s progress. We’ve tried: Garmin Connect, MapMyRun, My Fitness Pal and a couple others to keep each other on track. Sometimes things even get competitive, but that can be a good thing too 😉

two words: me undies

WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE ME UNDIES!!! By signing for the monthly subscription we would each receive a pair of underwear in the mail that matched! And they just keep on giving. You can coordinate days of the week or month that you both wear the same pair. This company has a great thing going and if you click on the this link, you’ll get 20% off your first order! Available in CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES!

Order a Custom Body Pillow

Zazzle.com offers the option to customize a body pillow! That’s right, a life sized, 54″ x 20″ pillow of your sweetie. And you can have a custom photo printed on each side. We ordered a double sided one (one of us on each side) and it turned out AWESOME! We absolutely love it!

TIP: Be sure to check for a Zazzle.com coupon code as this customization is a little on the pricey side (but totally worth it)

Bonus: Blog together!

This is a fairly new one but the excitement that it has generated so far has been worth it! We can both access the ‘admin’ page to make edits and discuss each blog entry before we post it. It’s a great opportunity for us to learn something new together while recalling moments from our past and bringing them back to life to share with you all!

We can’t emphasize enough how important communication is in a long distance relationship. People always seem surprised when we tell them we talk on the phone SEVERAL times a day. We firmly believe that it’s the main reason our relationship works! The other big one is trust, because without it, you haven’t got a chance.

Check out our ‘Long Distance Real-ationship‘ Pinterest Board for even more ideas and inspiration!

ARE YOU IN A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP? HOW DO YOU BRIDGE THE MILES TO SOMEONE YOU LOVE? WE’D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!