1. Skype is the single greatest invention of all time.

What did long-distance couples do before Skype? No, wait, don’t answer — I already know the answer, and I don’t want to even think of it. I can’t imagine a world without the ability to open up your computer and see the person you love most as though they were right next to you. Sure, you can’t touch them (even though you will definitely touch the screen and the camera as much as possible and end up with a bunch of fingerprints all over your computer), but you can feel that they are closer. You can see their dimples when they laugh, see the way their eyes close when they’re really happy, see the way they look at you as though they are trying to remember every last detail of the way you are in that moment. (Not to mention Skype Sex, the greatest gift to LDRs since the carrier pigeon.) All must bow at the altar of Skype, for it is the glue that holds many a faraway couple together.

2. Your friends will never understand.

They mean well, really. They just don’t want to see you get hurt. So they’re going to become a chorus of “long-distance relationships never work,” “it’s not fair to either of you,” “don’t you want to have fun?” and so on and so forth. They will try to make you kiss some cutie at the bar while you’re out because they can’t fathom the idea that endless physical affection available right in front of you is not worth even a two-minute Gchat with the person you actually love. They want to see you free, but they don’t understand that you are free, and the fact that you already know where your heart is actually alleviates a lot of the stress and questions from daily life when you are unsure of what you want. Don’t get mad at them, it’s not their fault, and they are just trying to take care of you.

3. Cheap travel is a constant treasure hunt.

The amount of time you’ve spent researching various modes of transportation, calculating gas money, refreshing Kayak, looking up bus routes, and generally slamming your head against your desk in a quest to find travel cheap enough to allow frequent back-and-forths is incalculable. It has basically become something between a precious hobby and a demanding part-time job. And sometimes it can be so frustrating, except for that one moment when you stumble upon one spot left in a discount flight that will allow you to make the trip for half the usual price. And then it’s like the warm rush of a good shot of whiskey. It’s perfect.

4. Sometimes it’s good to be apart.

Even though you’d never really admit it to each other — after all, you really want to be together all the time, and you would never actually enjoy the agonizing distance — there are moments when it can be a positive thing. It allows you to cool your heads, to think about things, to talk things out instead of just yelling, and to have profound conversations instead of just going straight to sex or to sleep. It tempers you both in many ways, and strips away all of the excess to remind you of what is actually important. Having to sleep on something because there isn’t the option of going to their house on a whim is a good way to learn whether or not you are in the wrong. No distractions, just communication.

5. There is no happiness in the world like the moment you see each other again.

Even though there is so much good in the world (and so much of it has to do with them, even when you’re not together) absolutely nothing can compare to the feeling of running into each other’s arms in the train station/bus depot/driveway/airport. It is the most pure, complete feeling of bliss and fulfillment and satisfaction, the embrace that says “I love you, and I missed you, and you are important.” It is the feeling of not being able to be close enough to one another, your tears mushing in between your pressed-together cheeks, everything else fading away entirely. And it is in those moments that any question you could have ever had about the costs of loving someone far away evaporate. There is only the two of you, and you can’t believe that anything else ever mattered.

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