21 Sweet Things to Do in a Long Distance Relationship

Long distance relationships are beautiful and full of many challenges that can strengthen a relationship and can put to the test a couple’s communication skills. A long-distance relationship is a couple, that are separated by a great distance and are unable to see each other often. This could be a matter of a couple hours’ drive from each other and could be different states or countries. Some long-distance relationship couples have routines with how often they see each other, for example twice a month. While others try to make plans when they can and may not see each other for weeks or months at a time. Here are 21 Sweet Things to Do in a Long Distance Relationship.

There are so many options for virtual date night calls and keeping in touch via texts, calls, or social media platforms that make it easy to keep in touch in a long-distance relationship. Gone are the days when your long-distance phone bill would be huge, now in today’s technology there are tons of free apps and messager platforms to communicate often and easily with your partner. 

Challenges and Benefits of Long Distance Relationships

​Long distance couples can face many challenges in their relationship, however, it’s also full of benefits that can strengthen the relationship too. The distance can certainly place a strain on physical intimacy, going on traditional date nights, and overall communication with each other. It can present challenges for scheduling when to see each other, and making time to speak – this can be an extra challenge for those with differing time zones. Overall it takes a lot more scheduling, patience, and communication to make quality time for each other. 

On the flip side of things, a long distance relationship can bring a couple closer together too! There are many benefits to long distance relationships such as improved communication, making the most of your time together, planning special moments and special occasions together, getting to know each other very well, and learning to resolve conflict well together. Regardless, there needs to be an importance placed on nurturing the love and connection between you two despite the distance. 

Communication and Connection Ideas

Virtual Date Ideas

Planning a virtual date night is a great way to connect in a fun way using technology such as Zoom, Facetime, and Google Duo. Some examples of cute long-distance date ideas you can do virtually can be watching a movie night with synchronized watching. Several streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney Plus to name a few, have options where you can watch in a group or with others. This allows you to watch the same movie at the same time together. You can have a video call going as well to chat and see each other reactions to what happens in the film.

Another idea is arranging an online game together. You can create a virtual game night through online platforms where you can play games – such as Board Game Arena. Lastly, you can set up a time to make a meal together or do some baking. You can each prepare ahead of time by buying the supplies and then cooking together virtually. A fun twist could be each person has to pick a new recipe each time you have a cooking date to explore new recipes together and have fun learning together. All of these virtual date ideas can be a lot of fun and are a great way to spend some good time together as a couple. 

Sending love letters and care packages

The art of writing a love letter can be beautiful. In today’s world of text messages, the idea of sitting down and writing a love letter expressing your love to another is not a common thing for couples to exchange. With long distance, you have a chance to add some old-school romance by taking time to send some snail mail such as a handwritten love letter. You can couple that love letter with a care package that includes thoughtful gifts and mementos from trips and adventures together.

Maybe the last time your partner was visiting you went to a show, museum, or gallery. You can purchase a small gift from those places and send them to your partner to show you’re thinking of them and cherishing those beautiful memories you made together. Lastly, you can include some of their favorite treats or snacks. You can also take things to the next level and introduce them to a new favorite of yours to share a bit from your daily routine. Tie that together with your handwritten notes and you’ve got such a sweet package to send them showing them you care and adding some personal touches along the way! 

Keeping the Romance Alive!

Romantic Video Calls

In today’s age of technology, it’s simple to jump on a video call! You can even record video messages for each other ahead of time to send to your loved one. Here are a couple of ideas of ways to take your phone calls to the next level with romantic video calls. You can arrange for a candlelit dinner you can share over a video call, either with a home-cooked meal or with the same type of takeout for each of you. Really make this a special occasion, get out of those sweats you typically lay on the couch in when you video chat and get all dressed up like it was a fancy date night.

Another idea for you and your long-distance partner is you can have a stargazing video chat. You can go and lay under the stars together and spend some time chatting and comparing what you two see in your night skies.  Lastly, you can exchange love poems or readings with each other. This is a great idea if you’re creative and love to write! You could write about your love story, you can write about the best dates you two have been on or just expressing your love and watching your partner listen to you express your love. 

Planning Future Visits

One of the best ways to keep the romance alive is to plan for the next time you’ll see each other! It helps with keeping up the excitement, anticipation and get you in the mood for romance! Taking time to think about your next visit as a couple can help you plan ahead with cute things and memorable experiences together. You can start talking about and dreaming of future plans, this is a sweet way to think about the future and what you two would like to do together when you’re no longer in different places.

You can also make a bucket list of all the beautiful things you two want to do together! This could be places you want to travel, a new hobby you two want to do together, or even just physical date ideas for when you’re in person! It’s important in long-distance relationships to make concrete plans for the next time you two will meet. This helps you two look forward to something, and is a great opportunity for you two to make the most of those trips by planning ahead and enjoying your real-time together. Going the extra mile for your partner when planning future visits can be a special way to show them how much you care and how excited you are for them to visit. 

Trust & Honesty

With distance can come the stress of trusting your partner and how to speak honestly to each other. This is an important thing, and sometimes it can be swept under the rug by couples until a trust issue is brought up and then couples can struggle with how to resolve this at a distance. It’s important early in the relationship to speak about open communication and speak about any concerns or fears you have. Is there anything from past relationships you might be bringing into this relationship, what concerns do you have about distanced love?

Like any relationship, long-distance relationship work needs to be done to help keep the relationship healthy. Part of long distance relationships is also building upon your foundation and growing trust over time. There is typically more trust in couples the longer they’ve been together, and working towards increasing your trust in each other will help with your long-distance love. 

Surprising Gestures of Love

Surprise Voice Messages & Cards

While a surprise visit might be a lot to pull off, a surprise voice message or e-card is a quick and easy thing you can do to show your partner you care. If they’re having a tough week at work, or you know they’re anxious about an upcoming event you can take some time to make them a voice note or put together an e-card to brighten their day. These don’t have to take much time at all and can be simple gestures that can mean a lot to your partner. These also work great if you’re in different time zones and jumping on phone calls or video calls is tough. The best part is they don’t know it’s coming and will be a fun surprise to brighten their day! 

Special Occasions

When you think of special occasions there are a couple of sweet things to do in a long distance relationship that can help to bridge the physical gap on these important dates. For Birthdays you can arrange a virtual date, send an e-card/gift, or surprise them by setting up a food delivery, flower delivery, or a care package to show you care on their day! You can even schedule a video call with them to see your partner’s face as they open gifts and cards. Try to do what you can to make the day as special as you can even with distance.

The same goes for other holidays, such as valentine’s day and/or anniversaries. The key to long distance relationships and successful holidays and occasions is planning ahead. If you have an upcoming holiday or anniversary you won’t be able to be together be sure to plan ahead with ideas on how to make the time special. This could include a fun remote scavenger hunt, creating an electronic photo album of images together, playing online video games, or making a romantic meal together. 

Virtual Date Ideas

One of the benefits that came from covid-19 is now there are so many online virtual date options for couples. These range from free to paid date ideas for sweet things to do in long distance relationships together. You can each make your own list of romantic ideas for virtual dates and then begin planning them as often as you two would like! Here are a couple of ideas to help get the ideas flowing. You can search for local museums that offer virtual tours, same for art galleries. Here are a couple of my favorites National Gallery of Art Washington, Van Gogh Museum, Musée d’Orsay, The National Gallery, the National Women’s History Museum, and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Alternatively, you could do new things as a couple which could include an online dance class or online cooking class you could take together. These types of dates are great if planning for the date is not your strong suit as they’re guided within the date, and scheduled ahead of time for you! These are a good way to connect and build a pre-set schedule for your dates and routine of knowing when you’ll see each other. You can also play online board games, or take online quizzes together. You can find online lots of traditional games, and new and creative ones to explore and learn together.

Fun & Spontaneity

Every relationship needs fun – it’s what keeps relationships enjoyable and fresh! Here are some sweet things you can do in a long distance relationship to keep up the fun and spontaneity! You can do random video calls as surprises. I do recommend knowing their schedule to ensure you’re not calling in the middle of the night, or in the middle of their work day! But if you know they’re likely home and able to take a phone call why not give them a quick call out of the blue?

You can also send silly selfies throughout your day, or take short videos and send them to your loved one! See some funny memes throughout your day – send them to your partner to give them a good laugh as well. Lastly, you can organize virtual parties with other couples or friends! You can even do some group activities for some friendly competition. 

Maintaining Intimacy 

​Intimacy is so important in any relationship, distanced love isn’t any different. It can feel at times challenging to figure out how to effectively maintain intimacy with distance, but with time and trial and error you’ll find what works best for you two. The important thing is to keep up with encouraging and engaging in intimacy and find new ways to connect. Here are some suggestions if you’re not sure where to start with maintaining intimacy. 

First, be open and honest about your intimacy needs with your partner. It’s important they know what your needs are and you two can have open communication on how to work on meeting those needs. Secondly, technology can be your friend! As mentioned in the list of sweet things you can do in a long distance relationship above you can share via video chat, use apps to share photos, and play games and activities together. In addition to all those intimacy ideas you can also utilize technology for more intimate phone calls and video calls, yes I’m talking about phone sex. There are even sex toys now that are made for distance relationships where you and your partner can control different aspects of the toys for each other. 

You can even go old school and write sensual and heartfelt letters and messages to each other. This does add a personal touch to them and can help you if you have a tough time speaking about your emotions and feelings. You can share these over one of your dinner dates in person or virtually, or with each other as you’d like. 

Supporting Each Other’s Goals

Supporting each other doesn’t need to be in person to be impactful, helpful, and loving. It’s important to celebrate and encourage each other’s personal goals. One of the sweet things to do in a long distance relationship is set alarms and reminders of big goals, or big accomplishments your partner has so you can check in and celebrate with them! Even if you’re apart, that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate achievements and milestones. Make a big deal out of them, do some of their favorite things, or give them surprise gifts! Go the extra mile to show them you care and support them even at a distance. 

Practicing Patience and Understanding Together

Yes, romantic gestures for long distance relationships are important, and spending time together to keep the spark alive is important. But what’s equally important is talking about the real things in real life and your experiences and emotions tied to long distance relationships. When asking yourself is long distance worth it? It comes down to the work you two are willing to put into the relationship. For example, being patient and coping with different time zones. This can take some time to adjust to, especially if there’s a large gap in your time zone differences. Setting up an app, or clock in your space (or cell phone) that lets you know your partner’s time automatically can go a long way in showing you care and messaging them during their daytime.

When it comes to what kills long-distance relationships – if you asked a relationship expert they’d outline communication challenges. It’s important to work together as a couple on your communication challenges, express yourself and speak up about any concerns you have with your partner and how long distance is going. 

It’s also important to remember that the distance is likely temporary. Planning for the future, and upcoming events can help with building patience while in a long distance relationship. It’s important to build a solid emotional connection with your partner to help with growing patience and understanding together as you navigate LDR. Some cute long distance relationship ideas to help can be having a calendar counting down days till you see each other, setting weekly date nights, and setting intentional time to chat and catch up on each other lives. 

Overcoming Challenges Together

Every relationship has challenges they face, and long-distance love is no different. Some of the common concerns that can arise are jealousy, insecurities, loneliness, the need for personal space, and focused on self-growth and self-care. What sweet things to do in a long distance relationship to help combat these concerns? As mentioned above strong communication is key. Outside of that setting up dates, such as online games, or singing karaoke to your favorite songs can be a great way to spend time together. When it comes to loneliness and personal space it’s important to speak openly and honestly about what you need. What supports do you have around your life that can help when your partner is unable to attend to those emotions, and how can you help each other through the distance? 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the sweetness of a long-distance relationship lies not in the distance that separates two hearts, but in the unwavering strength of love that brings them together. Throughout this journey, we have discovered an array of delightful gestures that can infuse connections with joy, warmth, and affection, despite the physical distance. From heartfelt messages and surprise video calls to virtual date nights and thoughtful gifts, the options are limitless. Embrace these sweet gestures, and let them serve as a reminder that love knows no boundaries for long-distance couples.