1. You discover that time passes at different speeds

When you don't have the privilege of being all the time with your loved one, you discover that your clock has been lying to you all along and one second doesn't always last one second.

You will discover that the time that you spend together will fly and weeks will feel like days. On the other hand, the moment that you go separate ways the time slows down and those weeks until you see each other again start to feel like months.

2. You discover that saying goodbye is hard and it never gets easier

When you are in a long-distance relationship, "goodbye" and "see you soon" became regular words in your quotidian. But although you are used to those words, you discover how hard saying those words can be and that it doesn't get any easier just because you been through that a dozen of times.

3. You learn that you can fall in love multiple times

You may not be a believer in love at first sight. I am not too!

But with time you will learn to believe in love at second sight, at a tenth sight and at a hundredth sight. Because you will notice that every time you meet, after some time apart, you will fall in love again like if it was the first time. I guess this happens because it's when you're far away from your loved one that you recognize how much you miss and love that person.

On top of that, you will also realize that every time you meet again you just continue from where you left off last time and it seems like that was no time in between. Doesn't matter if you last saw each other a week or a month ago, when you meet again it will seem like it was just yesterday.

4. You get addicted to your phone and you discover there are a million chatting apps available

You never realized how many chat applications there are on your phone until you are in a long-distance relationship.

You will see yourself talking on Facebook, sending audio messages on WhatsApp, recording videos with silly faces on Snapchat and direct messaging pictures on Instagram... And this just describes a normal afternoon!

This happens because you know that this is the only way to still be “present” in each other's life when you are apart. And by now, taking pictures of your meals, new clothes or a messy room doesn't seem weird for you anymore.

5. You become a jealous person

Yes, I said "jealous"! But no, it's not the kind of jealousy that you are thinking about! Trust is not a problem between you two and you know from early on in the relationship that without trust this long-distance thing would never work.

I am talking about being jealous of all the people that are with her/him right now because that is where you wish you could be. Have you ever heard of #FOMO? It stands for "Fear Of Missing Out" and it's something that you sometimes develop in this kind of relationships. This happens because you know that hearing about your partner's life is great but actually being there to live those things with them is much better!

6. You mastered the art of finding cheap plane tickets

Websites like Skyscanner, Google Flights, and Momondo are open by default in your browser and you receive multiple email notifications every time a flight price goes down. In fact, you check this website so many times that it should be a pop up greeting you by your name every time you open them.

You also know every possible flight, bus, and train combination to make the cheapest trip. Even if means that the trip will take ten hours instead of four.

And, somewhere along the line, you already realized that, unconsciously, checking flights is your "favorite" activity to do every time the sadness of being away kicks in.

7. You become an expert in packing, handling time zones and living in a rush

Packing stopped being a stressful and complicated task and you have pretty much a list in your head of everything you need to pack and do before a trip. Forgetting your flip flops it's a thing for beginners and you're way past that phase!

You don't understand anymore why people find dealing with different time zones so complicated. For you, this is already normal and you no longer need to do calculations to know what time to call people or what time your work meeting will be when you are abroad.

On top of that, you became a master at planning and organization! You are never in the same place and you have events to attend and people to visit in both places. This means that you need to plan your time based on which place you will be and push yourself to stick with your to-do list because you know that the "I will do it next week" way it's not always easy.

8. You wait all day for that before bed call and messaging is never too much

You discover that there is no such thing as “too much texting” and you will sometimes worry if your phone addiction is something that you should take a look at.

But, after all this texting during the day, you still find yourself in bed at night wondering if she/he will be able to call just for you to hear each other's voice before going to sleep.

Which sometimes means you will go to bed at 23h and you only fall asleep at 1h because those “only give minutes to say goodnight” calls always turn into 2 hours. And it sometimes ends up with you checking flights and planning the next trip... Missing someone really sucks!

9. You start wishing that teleportation was real

The bad days and the bad moments are the worst in this kind of relationship! Especially when is your loved one having a bad day and you cannot be there for that hug that she/he needs so much.

Of course, you're still able to talk and give support but secretly you just wish that you could clap your fingers and be there for a minute to hold their hand and wipe that tear.

10. Your grooming and shaving habits have a schedule

Unconsciously, or not, you stop worrying so much about cutting your hair, shaving, and grooming in general.

Of course, you still keep a good appearance for you friends and co-workers but let's be honest, there's no one that you want to impress!

Until... it's one week left for you to meet again and then your to-do list looks something like this:

Cut/do my hair

Cut/do Nails

Eyebrows

Shave

Shave more and more!!!

Because, although you have been relaxing a little bit in this department, you still want to look your very best for your loved one.

11. Everyone thinks you're a little crazy

At the beginning of the relationship, everyone thinks it's cute and almost every conversation with your friends and family end up in one of the following sentences:

"When is she coming again?"

"When are are you going to see each other again?"

"What are your plans for the future?" (I just love this one...)

"You must miss her/him a lot..."

"Is she going to move here?" (Yeah, I said "here"! Forget if you think they are considering the possibility of being you that moves to another country!)

But as the time passes, you realize that people start to think you're a little crazy or, at least, not normal. At this point, the sentences change to something like:

"How do you guys do it??"

"Until when you gonna have to stay apart like this?"

"Are you abroad again? You never stop..."

"Going to travel again next week? Didn't you travel a few weeks ago?" (And of course, you're just thinking in your head: "No, it was more than one month ago and I miss her/him. Deal with it!")

But thinking you're crazy or not, everyone secretly admires your perseverance and knows how happy you guys are. Especially when they see you two together.

12. You feel crazy sometimes

Having in consideration the points below, it's not hard to imagine why sometimes even you start to feel crazy!

There are some days that you will have doubts, that you feel like life is unfair, that you think about leaving everything behind and just go to her/him because this distance seems like too much to handle. But you also know that this is normal and you just need to keep being strong!

The path of a long-distance relationship is, by far, not an easy one. But that's the magic of love. With the right person, everything seems easier!

Thank you for reading!

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

RollBack (author) from Portugal on July 13, 2017:

Couldn't agree more!

If you don't have some objectives to fight for in the relationship you will start to drift apart. Just because it doesn't make sense to fight through all the hard parts of being far away without any purpose.

dashingscorpio from Chicago on July 12, 2017:

You realize long distance relationships were meant to be temporary! The goal is to be with the person you love.

Unless there is a "light at the end of the tunnel" where someone will be relocating it's only a matter of time until you drift apart.

It's the counting down of the months, weeks, and days until one is finally done with the inconvenience of being in a long distance relationship that keeps it strong!

The only reason for sustaining a long distance relationship is the belief that she/he is "the one". Otherwise if you're just simply "dating" you might as well do that locally.

One man's opinion! :)