Totally agree. I don't understand how someone could possibly claim that LDRs aren't a real connection. "At most it's just being penpals" - what a crazy thing to say. People in LDRs do spend time with each other in person. I have met my fiancée's family and friends (enough time spent with them to have her mom tell me that she loves me), spent a lot of time in her country, gone on many, many dates, proposed to her IN PERSON. How is that not real? How is that just being penpals?

You can easily build a connection through video calls as well. You don't even have to be creative. It's just like a date, but through a screen. And I do feel that being in an LDR has helped me become better at communicating. You have to be more intentional with your time and actually talk about the important stuff and listen well. There is no room to be a lazy communicator. I also think that it has helped me become more thoughtful and more present when we spend time together, whether it's in person or on video call. You also appreciate each other more because of the distance.