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How Do You Know If It’s Worth It To Try a Long Distance Relationship?

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Dear Evan,

I have seen a lot of interesting questions about dating and the internet. So here is mine: How do you know if this guy that talks to you on the phone for hours every day…and lives overseas…is for real?!?

Let’s see a tell-tale list of signs for women to know when he IS interested. I, like most women, think we have guys figured out but are so wrong most of the time. Men DON’T usually share their feelings or sometimes are afraid to I guess. So we play the "let’s read into everything he does" game.

Keep in mind this is an international relationship and not the boy who lives 30 minutes away and I can meet him anytime.  So how do I know if it’s worth it or if it’s all gonna be like a giant bomb exploding around me because what we have online or the phone just can’t be sustained "in real life". I would like to know what to look for.

thanks,

Charoa

Dear Charoa,

I trust you’re asking me if this relationship is real, as opposed to the person. Because believe me, there are people overseas who are out to scam you out of your money, and you should be aware of that. Generally, scammers will show interest in older women or men who haven’t been getting much attention online. Then, they’ll develop a rapport over a few weeks and ask you to send money. And when you do, you’ll never hear from them again.

I remember one nice Midwestern man calling American Singles customer service (where I was working in 2001) to complain about a Russian woman he had met on the site. Apparently, he had fallen in love with this woman, who, in turn, asked him to send her $2000 so she could move to the United States. There was nothing the site could do – as all they had on her was an email address, a fake name and a cancelled credit card.

But assuming you’re asking me about long-distance relationships, Charoa, yeah, I’ve got a few ideas.

As it stands, I’m driving up to San Francisco in a few minutes. There, I’m going to have breakfast with my little sister who has left New York to move in with her boyfriend that she met on Nerve.com.

My best girl friend from high school has just moved from New York to Baltimore to move in with her fiancé that she met on eHarmony.com.

A woman I briefly dated cross-country who told me she’d never leave New York is now living in Santa Monica with her husband and new baby.

These are real stories of real people who are really close to me.

And yet, I still wouldn’t recommend a long-distance relationship….

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4 Responses to “How Do You Know If It’s Worth It To Try a Long Distance Relationship?”

  1. Carmin Wharton Aug 1st 2007 at 09:24 am 1

    My opinion: if there is an option between dating someone in close proximity versus someone long distance, always, always go with the person in close proximity.

    Why? Isn’t the reason we date to get to know someone better, perhaps to explore a long term relationship? Or, to simply have companionship. How can you really get to know someone better and have companionship at a great distance.

    I believe to “be there” one has to “be there.”

    Carmin Wharton, The Relationship Teacher
    Author, “Lessons Learned: While Looking for Love in All the Wrong Faces”
    http://www.carminwharton.com

  2. becci Aug 19th 2007 at 04:43 am 2

    A year ago i met a man online , in May of this year we met for the first time, and have been together ever since. Its hard been in a long distance relationship and i miss him terribly when were apart. We talk everyday on the phone, usualy 2/3 times and we email and chat online, we also try to meet up for long weekends at least 2 times a month. It i hard but worth it, we know that eventually one of us will have to move so we can be together but we are also being sensible and taking it slowly to ensure that were both ready when it happens. Honesty is the most important thing in a long term relationship, without it , it will not work. When your apart from the person you love for 80% of the year, you have to have trust.

    hope this helps you, but it is worth it, plan and discuss what you want for the future together, but dont rush

  3. Sue Aug 23rd 2007 at 03:57 pm 3

    About 2 years ago, I met an incredible man playing an online game. Had been doing the online dating thing for a long time and had poor results. Not all dates were bad, there was just no interest in anything other then friends (and that was fine with me as well). Then along came the man of my online dreams. He lived 1800+ miles away. We spent over a year getting to know each other, bickering, out-right fighting and one of us ignoring the other. Our mutual online friends listened to us bemoan our bad luck and listened to us say how miserable we were when not playing together. 4 times I had planned to move to meet him and everything. 3 times he changed his mind and just wanted to be friends. I found other people to play the game we enjoy with and decided that enough was enough. Last December he told me that he was miserable without me even in a virtual world. Last Feb, he asked me to marry him. Keep in mind that we had never met in person. We had talked on the phone, written dozens of emails, talked on the computer with VoIP. I FINALLY packed everything, got on a train and moved 1800+ miles to meet the man of my dreams for the first time. Now, as the train grew nearer to the final stop where he was waiting to pick me up, I imagined all sorts of things. I was imagining him taking one look at me and sending me right back. He had seen pictures of me and me of him, but pictures don’t always tell the whole story. I thought “What if I am in love with a troll?! What if he thinks I am a troll?!!”. Needless to say, 5 months later, we are deliriously happy and plan to marry soon. So, depending on how much time you put into getting to know the person before actually meeting, it can be very rewarding and so very worth it.

  4. NIKKI Aug 23rd 2007 at 06:05 pm 4

    I meet this guy on a phone dating service..Its been 2 years, and i spent 4 days and plus Christmas with him last year.. But we haven’t seen each other since..Although we talk every day at least 2-3 times …His told mehe loves me and can’t live with out me..What’s the caught is that he lives only an hour and 30 minutes away…I not sure if i am in a relationship or just a penpals..I do care for him and he told me that he loves me and wants to spend his life with me..Am i crazy for thinking things will change and we will be together..what sure i do? Very confused…

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