LONG DISTANCE LOVE Obviously if you’re even considering continuing your relationship while you’re travelling or moving for work, you are pretty serious about it. But… sometimes you have to verbalise that commitment to your boyfriend or girlfriend beyond the standard phrase of ‘ah sure, we’ll give it a go.’ Sometimes what works well is putting a timeframe on your return to them or their move to join you or, for longer periods of separation, a time-frame to see if the relationship is still working after six months. Of course, couples will break up because of the long distance is too difficult for them. Some couples will become closer because they have had to improve their communication skills. You simply will never know until you try it, and pre-empting a break-up before your departure may close you off to new experiences and opportunities for your relationship to grow. You will grow sick of technology, spend an absolute fortune on phone credit, curse your Internet connection and Skype for crashing and nearly cry when your phone dies, but you will always light up the moment you get a text or email or see them online.