Long distance relationships are not a new concept, but with the continual advancement in technology, they are arguably more successful than they may have been in the past.
Josee Lefebvre is a student at Fanshawe College who moved 7 hours from home, so she could go to school. Her boyfriend is currently still there, and she says Skype has been the main crutch of their relationship, “Skype is literally your best friend. I solve all my problems with Matt over Skype.”
She says trust is one of the main issues they have at the moment, and being able to read his body language over video, helps when they need to have important conversations.
Skype isn’t the only form of communication that couples can use to their advantage, “Snapchat helps as well with the physical part. Not being able to be together physically is hard. It also helps with the day to day. We can’t be there to spend time together, so seeing each other, even through pictures helps.”
While social networking and smart phone apps can be a great resource for long distance relationships, it can also be the cause of them as well.
Mike Busenbark is a student at Fanshawe who moved to London just over a year after meeting his wife on an online dating website.
He says trust wasn’t really an issue with them due to their lifestyle, “Neither of us are overly social people. Going out to bars, and socializing outside of our comfort zone isn’t a thing, so trust wasn’t really an issue.”
He says for them, not being able to have the physical closeness was the most difficult part, as they were always pretty good at communicating as well, “she’s pretty easy to read. Often times things can get misconstrued over text, but she’s very precise with her texting when she’s angry, so I’ve always been able to read her.”
Another difficult part of their relationship was making the move to be together, “the paperwork took nearly 8 months. We had to document everything and compile everything into folders.
One thing both Busenbark and Lefebvre can agree on, is how amazing it feels to be with the person after a long time apart. “It’s overwhelming how amazing it feels… It is well worth the wait,” says Lefebvre
