8 Must-try Tips To Make Your Long Distance Relationship Work During Lockdown!

Long-distance relationships can be tough. When I was in one, I used to spend the equivalent of time we spent hanging out before on wondering if it is even worth it. That relationship ended eventually because the distance turned out to be the least of the problems between us. But it gave me great insight into the whole idea. I spent a lot of time figuring out interesting things to do during a long-distance relationship. And it feels almost cathartic to be sharing them with you here! 

Here are the tips to help your long-distance relationship last:

1. Watch2Gether

And watch together. Music videos, movies, or ahem ahem. A couple who consumes art together stays together. 

Watch2Gether is a great place to explore for the purpose. The site supports a wide range of content sources such as Youtube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, and Soundcloud. For not directly integrated sources such as Netflix, Disney Plus, or Amazon Prime you can use the W2gSync feature which can synchronize external sources with the help of their browser extension. What's cooler is that you can create temporary rooms and delete them the next day. So what happens in WaGe's stays in WaGe's (get it?)

2.  Participate in online events together 

I thought of this while watching Raunaq Rajani's Relationship Advice on YouTube. It's been shifted to Zoom recently, and in a segment of the show, the host asks a couple from among the audience (both of whom are usually in a long-distance relationship given the pandemic) to turn on their cameras, and an interaction ensues.

Well, I can't promise that much engagement in other online events, but they are sure a great way to rekindle the romance and bring in the excitement. Comedy, improv, corporate shows, online lectures (personal tip: Watch Jordan Peterson's videos together.

You both will either get a deep psychological insight into your relationship or have a great time mocking him turn by turn. Either way, your relationship wins), you go girls and boys!

3. Order food for your partner

The way to a person's heart is through their stomach. No matter what these snobbish bloggers tell you by claiming the word 'foodie' for themselves alone, believe me, everyone is a foodie if they get their favorite flavors. So scintillate your partner's senses in the second-best way possible (the first is a massage of course, what were you thinking?) and order that dark chocolate for them right now!

4. Read with your partner

This one's probably the most personal. But hey! You can also read comics together if you want! And if your partner is not a good reader, just get out of it already, I am telling you.

I mean, what even is the world without readers who spend five minutes of their lives reading the diary of a very random girl on Sociomix?

(Personal tip: Read this article with your partner and talk it out. What tips you can actually execute and which ones of them are completely bogus. If I manage to bring even a single couple closer, I will consider myself closer to Heaven *sobs*)

5. Online tours

This one's the most exciting! One great thing about the pandemic is that it enables us to see the magnificence of technology in all its glory. You can visit world-class museums and art galleries from the comfort of your home, and spend as long as you want to stare and analyzing the artifacts from the Mayan civilization! Remember you both made this plan to visit France for your honeymoon? Go check out Musee d'Orsay right now!

To be honest I am not even sure if this is a great way to make a relationship better or worse because I for one don't even look at my partner when I am in the vicinity of great art, let alone chat with them.

6. Be friends

When you are physically together, this part sometimes goes away. You two are so busy managing your finances together, thinking about the rent or the logistical concerns for the next place for your date, that you forget the pure joy of talking like best friends who don't make sense to a third person at all!

A long-distance relationship can be a great time to bring that back. To love and be compatible unconditionally, and not merely because they are your 'better half' and you are dependent on them to pick up the grocery on their way back home from work. 

7. Introspect

I know the article is getting darker as we move forward, but you need to use intuitive tips if all the sensory ones mentioned above fail to rekindle your relationship. 

For starters, ask yourself these questions:

Do you want to sustain the relationship because you love that person and keen for it to survive the pandemic or because you are afraid to be alone and making compromises to sustain long-distance relationships is how it's 'supposed' to be?

In this age of technology, the most prominent thing you are missing in an LDR is physical intimacy. If your relationship is so dependent on physical proximity to survive even a few months, is it worth it?

In the bigger picture, are you more grateful for your relationship or making more compromises in it?

This is not to undermine the sheer frustration that long-distance relationships involve, and the whole gamut of helpless situations (like not being able to be there for your partner when they are sick), or worsen your anxieties about your relationship. But sometimes, distance is a way to get objectivity on relationships and work on them (or choose not to) in newer ways. Perhaps yours is one that needs that?

8. Move on if you (or the relationship) are too young

I guess you saw this coming. But this one comes from a place of practicality rather than emotion, unlike the last point. All the tips mentioned above require you to have a great Internet connection, some financial independence, and reasonable privacy where you are living.

And also, at least no outright rejection (if not explicit approval) for your relationship from the people you are locked down with. All these things are hard to come by for young people, especially in countries like India. The result of trying to sustain a relationship already made complicated by the virtue of distance in this environment would be loads of stress and unpleasant situations. 

Of course, individual scenarios vary. This is not absolute advice. But it is a possibility nonetheless. Don't trap yourself in difficult situations for anything. True love can wait. True love will wait.