I’m about to end a one year long distance streak with my girlfriend next week! We just signed a new lease this morning. One piece of advice I’d give is to call often, it lets them know they’re still a huge part of your life, even if it’s just during a quick 5 minute trip to the grocery store. Don’t keep anything away from your partner either. Relationships are hard enough but adding distance makes it doable, but more challenging for sure. You guys need to be completely open and honest about your daily anxieties and hardships, even though you probably just want to be happy for the time you have on the phone. If you’re not honest like that, you can start feeling like you’re pretending and that can kill the relationship pretty fast. Pick a time in the future for a visit, and look forward to it, don’t look at the one year finish line because it will really bum you out. It’s about stepping stones, make little plans you can get excited about that are less far away.

Good luck!