When I read blogs, regardless of their topic, I’m always curious about the personal life of the writer. What kind of day job do they have? How do they make their relationships work (significant other, friends, and family all included)? Blogs often paint a picture of exciting, creative lives, and as I take it all in I always wonder, how the heck do you manage your life emotionally and financially to make all this work? I don’t live a sparkly blog life, but I do live a real life, and so I’ll share the work-in-progress/figuring life out bit, as opposed to the polished everything-is-naturally-awesome bit. Bloggers often make disclaimers that their lives aren’t so perfect, but it’s really hard to connect with that when their blogs are so shiny and their imperfections imperceptible.
So with that mission in mind: Recently the bf and I joined the Long Distance Relationship Club. He moved to Austin, TX for an awesome job in the video game industry, and I’m still out in Los Angeles, CA working my awesome job in the archives/museum world. We are still very much together, but we’re both early on in our careers and need to take any opportunities to gain new experiences and grow in our professions. This is the path we’re following for the time being.
One of my teammates at Wednesday night trivia is an experienced member of the Long Distance Relationship Club. I asked him for advice on how he and his girlfriend make it work. He said that he had one word for me: communication.
I’d say that so far Mr. H and I have the communication bases covered. We’re big on texting, talking on the phone (which I generally hate, but here is an exception), and as soon as Mr. H has internet we’ll jump on board Skype. Not too tough.
But trivia teammate then also mentioned that his girlfriend flies out to visit every two weeks or so. EVERY TWO WEEKS?! I’m plotting my first visit to Austin and anticipate heading out there maybe twice a year? If I was more of a baller you’d bet I’d be flying out more often, but I’m small time peanuts. So this small time peanutter is going to have a slightly different long distance relationship.
I still think if we want it to work we’ll find a way to make it work. And I’m super looking forward to visiting him in Austin. I’ve been there twice and already know I really like the place.
Illuminated Past 