The not-so-secret way to keep a long distance relationship going

I am currently in a long distance relationship. I'm not talking the next city over or the next state over. I mean a hard-core-thousands-of-miles-away-in-a-whole-other-country kind of distance. This past year, I lived in London, England. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. Because of this, I have full intention of reliving it over and over again. After graduation I plan on moving to England for the culture, the jobs, and, most of all, my boyfriend.

I haven't been in many relationships, but they were strong and long. People seem to have a relationship personality that they repeat every time they enter into one. There are the types that see each other on the weekends because they're so busy. There are types that hang out every once in a while pretty consistently. And there are the types that practically move in with one another. That would be me. So one can imagine how hard it is to go from being with someone all the time to just talking the phone when our time zones allow it.

When it came time for me to come home from my year abroad, relationships all around me were falling apart. I knew many other exchange students that had fallen for an English man or woman and decided keeping it going would be too much work. For me and Matthew, however, that was out of the question. This begs the question: do long distance relationships really work? I believe that they can work only if visitations are possible. It is too much a strain on the heart and mind to go longer than five or six months apart, especially if the relationship is still new. Matthew and I had been dating for seven months when I had to move back to America. I visited him for ten days in October, most of which were spend with a writing class. Then I'm staying with him for almost a month in December. He will visit during his spring break (England gets a month off) and I'm moving to England in June.

It's planning like this that makes a successful long distance relationship. Communication is the key aspect of keeping the love between two people. Talking once a day or more than once a day is a must and it's easily possible with programs such as Skype. This is a free program where anyone can call anywhere in the world for almost nothing or free if the other person has Skype.
If there isn't enough trust in the relationship it will fail. When it's so difficult to know what my significant other is doing, it would easy to be paranoid. But I have to tell myself and Mathew that I trust him 100%. If it were any less than it wouldn't be worth doing.

When I talk to Mathew I always feel better about myself, about us, and about my life. Everything looks a little brighter and I’ll always be in a better mood. He’s witty and light, but knows how to challenge me and have fiery discussions. He’s made it clear that academics come before having an all-night chat, so our relationship is healthy and forgiving.

I've been hurt in the past, so I surprised myself when I decided to keep going. I don't regret getting into something that had the potential to hurt me. I'm lucky that it didn't and I feel that even if it did, it was, as they say; better to have loved than never to have loved at all.