1.Send Cards
Send a greeting card to your lover by slow mail. It will be nice for them to get a just-thinking-about-you card amidst the bills plus you get some cool points for the effort and thoughtfulness.

2.Pray together
This is one of the most powerful activities you can do with your partner regardless of if it’s a long distance relationship (LDR) or not. I find it especially helpful when having a “heated” conversation aka argument. I just can’t seem to stay upset after praying with the person I’m mad at.

3.Share everything about your day
It might sound silly but it’s actually really important. With a relationship where you see each other all the time, there are many things that go unsaid because your partner is there to observe it. Not so with a LDR. Be sure to share both important and unimportant things about your day. It will save you from probably feeling disconnected or from having the “you don’t know me” conversation somewhere down the line.

4.No silent treatment
Ladies, I know we like this little tool called the silent treatment. I’m learning to wean myself of it. LDR’ers you can’t afford to use the silent treatment; your partner can’t see your cute puppy face or read your body language. Instead of resulting in your partner begging and pleading for your forgiveness, over the phone, the silent treatment usually leads to more frustration.

5.Have phone dates
Set up a phone date with your partner! Send him an evite through www.evite.com and plan to watch a movie together (yes over the phone, it is possible :)) or anything else you would both enjoy that’s different from just talking like you do often.

6.Get to know each other’s friends
Whether you have actually met your LDR partner or not, you should try to get them to introduce to you at least one of their friends over the phone. It’s nice just knowing that he is willing to introduce you to his friends. And it also helps to have someone to help you plan surprises for your significant other.

7.Plan some of your conversations
Don’t just leave all your conversations to fate. Make an effort to spice them up. The truth is after the whirlwind of great convo you will both enjoy at that beginning of the relationship, you start to find less and less to talk about. Don’t get worried, it’s natural to run out of “firsts” and “favorites” to talk about; get creative! An example of something to do is to conduct fun love quizzes you can find online and talk about the responses to the questions.

8.Make surprise visits
Plan a visit to see your boo without telling him until maybe the week before. Depending on his tolerance for surprises, just show up without telling at all!

9.Talk to each other often
Ok, this shouldn’t need to be said but just in case … here we go. Talk to each other often! Talk! Talk! Talk! You can’t be in a LDR and claim not to be a phone person. All you have is your conversations. So doing it often is the way to building a lasting relationship. Also diversify your mode of communication. You don’t have to be on the phone all the time; you can alternate with chatting online as well.

10.Trust each other’s heart
You have to believe in each other’s heart towards the relationship. If you can’t trust their heart to be true and committed to you despite the distance, you probably shouldn’t be in the relationship at all!

Ladies, How does your long distance relationship survive? Men, what should we know about long distance relationships from your perspective?