My (now) wife and I spent 4 years with her in Japan and me in the US-- the first 4 years, mind you. It can work. It means a lot of phone time, and a lot of patience, and, of course, the right two people.
When I was in college, I was in Boston and my girlfriend was in Pittsburgh. That was hard and eventually failed. Emotions run hotter when you're younger, time seems to move more slowly, you don't have the independence and financial resources to set your own priorities. She eventually left me for someone close by. Truth be told, that didn't work out much better for her.
My best friend met his (now) wife when he was at Pitt and she was a Penn State-- which is a little further than what you're dealing with.
i considered myself a hopeless romantic but i still find im realistic about this. im not going to date her forever, i want to date around a fair bit before settling down. that just seems logical to me, i love and her all that jazz but i didnt do much dating in highschool and i need more experience. shes amazing but i just get the feeling that there will never be a real substantial reason to break up, i think i could end up with her. but these thoughts at 19...i always feel like u gotta be older for those sorta "epiphanies"?
we both are planning on being in school for a while (medschool for her, business/grad school)so that is a loong time to date.
lol, sometimes i have idea how to fully articulate my thoughts on this
This is another whole topic... I've got friends who married after dating since high school and can't imagine better marriages. I've got friends who wait until they're older and can't quite find a relationship that works.
There's two schools of thought, both valid: if you start your relationship early you form to fit one another, while meeting when you're older means more effort in reconciling your established ways-- on the other hand there the theory that when you're older you have a better idea of what you're looking for and your life's path is better established. Both are true. What some call "experience" others call "baggage".
The thing to do, I think, is think about it long and hard and figure out if you're really using the distance as an excuse to hide something more fundamental that you don't want to admit to yourself. Conversely, you want to be sure that you're not internalizing someone else's idea of what your path through life should be-- you'll hear all kinds of advice from people that may not fit you.
And whatever you do, keep the romance-- logic kills the fun in life.
