The International Student Blog

Are you in a committed relationship and thinking about studying abroad? Is it possible to be in a long distance relationship while apart and located across the world? They say distance makes the heart grow fonder…or does it?

One of the greatest opportunities you can have in college is studying abroad. Studying abroad is a life changing adventure full of excitement and challenges. When living among a new culture you’re going to want to experience everything your new home away from home has to offer. From food to the sights, different people and maybe even a new romance.

What about if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend back home? Is long distance really worth it? Here are five tips to consider if you are deciding to do long distance when studying abroad:

1) Define Your Relationship

Once you have decided that you are studying abroad, it’s never too early to sit down with your partner to figure out if you should stay together. Do you see yourself together a year from now? Then a few months physically apart is probably doable.

Be realistic with the expectations you have for each other while you’re gone, you both are the best judges on if a long distance relationship is reasonable. If one of you doesn’t see a future together long term then it may be better to be single on both ends.

2) Balanced Communication Is Key

Talking regularly is important when being apart but finding a balance is the most important factor. You can’t just constantly be on your phone or laptop messaging back and forth on a tiny little screen when there is a whole country waiting to be explored!

Get out and explore, make new friends and try new things! If your partner cares about you they will understand and want you to explore. They’ll also more than likely want you to tell them all about it when you both have the time.

3) Visit Them

Chances are if you’re both in college then you will have the time to make the trip. If you have the time and the money, then you should definitely take advantage of visiting your loved one in another country.

It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see another country with someone you really care about and seeing it for the first time through their eyes.

4) Utilize Technology

Technology will become your best friend when trying to make long distance work. Schedule Skype dates, share those photos on social media or give your partner a call on WhatsApp!

With so many outlets for communication and sharing you can feel like you’re only kilometers apart instead of oceans away.

5) Be Selfish

This experience is for you, at the end of the day do what makes you happy. Don’t feel like you can’t do things because you have someone waiting for you back home. If you trust each other then don’t feel bad about staying out late having your own adventures.

It’s your life and you only get one…don’t live with “I could have…” live with “I did that…”.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 17th, 2017 at 5:00 am and is filed under International Student. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Written by Connor Smith

Connor joined the Marketing and Advertising team in late 2016 as our Marketing Intern. He is originally from Jupiter, Florida and a recent graduate of the University of North Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Communication and Advertising. He has also had the opportunity to travel throughout Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand which prompted him to get involved with marketing here at Envisage.

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