Romantic relationships always include challenges and difficulties. Long-distance relationships can become unsustainable if you aren’t careful enough. Long-distance relationships can work out, and it’s difficult as some people say it is. Here are some tips for keeping long-distance relationships healthy and thriving. We’re confident you can make it work!

1. Be committed long-term.

Thinking about your relationship’s potential life span is daunting, especially in the early stages. In traditional relationships, this is something you can put off considering for a while. But in a long-distance relationship, you and your partner need to discuss it from the start.

Long-distance relationships have different progressions from traditional relationships. Thinking long-term is crucial if you want your relationship to be meaningful and you potentially want to become life partners.

2. Don’t over-communicate.

Thanks to technology, long-distance partners can spend long blocks of time connected virtually, but communication can easily devolve and become obsessive. Over-communication has the potential to become a significant issue. The challenge is to find a healthy balance, which ensures the quality of your conversations.

3. Make sure you understand each other’s communication styles.

Communication is very important, so it’s helpful to discuss communication styles before you even begin a relationship. If you haven’t it’s not too late. In long-distance relationships, helpful for the partners to have similar communication styles. If you don’t have healthy communication in a long-distance relationship, you don’t have much else. Communication is a significant factor in any relationship, romantic or not. It may be the most important component in the potential success of a long-distance relationship.

4. Don’t depend on social media.

Sadly, most of us have, at one time or another, become a stalker on social media, so we know it can only backfire. You either won’t find quality information about your partner, or you’ll see just enough to create a whole drama in your head that doesn’t even really exist.

On the flip side, don’t post scandalous pictures, cryptic updates, or misleading stories in an attempt to make your partner jealous. That may have worked in middle school, but now it just looks pathetic and desperate. In any relationship, but especially in a long-distance one, you need to accept your partner’s commitment and get comfortable with the fact that they’re going to be social without you.

5. Be transparent.

Transparency is vital. The more transparent and vulnerable you can be with each other, the more connected you will become. Transparency is crucial to maintaining the connection you share. You need to be comfortable saying things like, “I’ feel sad because I miss you.” When you’re vulnerable, you’ll feel closer to each other. you waver, you create barriers, and the relationship will fall apart.

6. Have date nights.

It’s essential to make time for dates, even if they’re remote. You need romance, so you need them to be different from check-in calls. late nights will help you keep your relationship vibrant. Instead of communicating regularly just to check in, plan periodic date nights.

Date nights will look different for different couples. You can be as creative or conventional as you want to be. Date night may consist of FaceTiming while you do various activities, such as doing puzzles, watching movies, streaming television series, reading to each other, or doing brain teasers together. You could take an online class and learn something new together, play duplicate physical copies of the same board game together, read each other short articles or poetry, or tell bedtime stories.

7. Be patient.

Don’t expect things in the relationship to progress on a prescribed timeline. You may want to spend the rest of your life with your partner, but don’t rush things. It sounds cliche, but the person you’re meant to be with will find a way to be with you.

Partners in a long-distance relationship have the luxury of being fairly autonomous. One of the best things about that type of relationship is that there doesn’t have to be an end game. You’re free to talk about moving in together or getting married, and you’re also free to go back and forth on your end game. It’s okay to live in different places, and there doesn’t have to be any pressure. Let things develop organically. Be patient and allow the end game to play out on its own timetable

8. Make plans to visit each other and/or take a vacation together.

Even if you visit each other often, it’s okay to talk literally all day when you’re together. Visits are easier if one or both of you are working remotely. That makes it a lot easier to go see each other whenever you can.

Even if you aren’t working remotely, you should plan to visit each other. You aren’t physically part of each other’s day-to-day lives, so you need to make it a priority to schedule time to be together.

Some long-distance couples like to travel together to someplace new. They share fresh experiences and make new memories together. Travel planning can also help you discover somebody isn’t all that interested in you. If they’re not interested, they won’t be willing to make travel plans involving you.

9. Set healthy limits.

Romantic relationships can be very passionate, so it’s important to establish healthy limits right from the start. There isn’t anything wrong with telling your partner what’s okay with you and what isn’t. Everything doesn’t have to be black-and-white. But talking about your boundaries is a healthy way to avoid future problems.

Don’t drunk-text and call desperately. You’ll soon find out your partner and feels that’s too much. Just keep things real.