What I Learned from my Long Distance Relationship.

I feel like I should begin this post by defining what I mean by 'long distance'. I went off to university last year, and now live about 2 hours away from my boyfriend. This means that I am able to see him most weekends, but not during the week. Some may not consider this to be long distance, as I know people who live in different countries from their partners but since at home I live less than five minutes from him it was a huge shock. It was hard, but I have learned some important things about my relationship.

• You WILL argue more. At least at first. Distance of any kind is bound to put strain on any relationship, as you don't get to see each other as often as you'd like. They potentially will have new friends and hobbies which may cause problems between you too. This may get better, as it did for me and James, or it may not. Many of my friends have ended their relationships since being at uni because of the distance, I guess it just depends on the couple.

• You'll appreciate your time together more. If you're lucky enough to not be poor like us, you may plan more dates or if not you'll probably just feel happier about having a movie night in. But whatever the case, it seems that distance really does make the heart grow fonder.

• Everyone will ask you how you're coping being apart, but very few will want an honest answer. Those close to you will want to help, so opening up to them can be a great coping mechanism. But others will expect you to just smile and say 'fine, thanks' and that's okay too.

• Your relationship WILL change - but that's not necessarily a bad thing. In my case, I think our relationship got a lot more serious. It went from 'we've been together for a year and we're having fun' to 'we're making huge commitments and sacrifices to make this relationship work'. I am by no means saying that we don't still have fun because we do, it's just more difficult to make time for that and you need to decide whether it's worth it.

• Lots of people will expect you to break up. Lots of people do when they go to uni! It's hard to be in a long distance relationship and like I said, you will get to a point where you need to decide if it's worth the effort. You just need to block out those voices and make those decisions for yourself.

• You'll learn to prioritise better. Whether that's getting work done during the week to keep weekends free, or prioritising time with your boyfriend over joining an extra society, or saving your money for dates instead of shopping trips, you will have to prioritise some things.

• You'll learn what you like best about them. It turns out, that although I love lots of things about James, my favourite part of his personality is how caring he is. When I go to his he always makes a huge effort to look after me by cleaning before I arrive, cooking me delicious food, taking me on dates and always making sure I am comfortable and okay. It's lovely.

• On the other hand, their flaws will also be emphasised. You will have to decide if you can live with them (such as James' snoring) or if you'd rather go your separate ways. James' aren't that bad, but to be honest I'm surprised he's stuck with me haha.

• You will learn about the importance of going on dates. When you don't see each other enough, you may begin to feel really down. Planning an exciting date gives you something to look forward to to help with this, but also gives you something to do when you have a long period of time together.

• Finally, you will learn whether or not you're meant to be together. Like I've mentioned before, you will need to decide whether your relationship is worth the effort of long distance, and many people will realise that for them it's not. But for me it is, and James still makes me smile every single day :).