Global Love.

The Long Distance Relationship is now a pandemic, spreading through the human population at an alarming rate. Like a rampant disease, debilitating hearts and souls one by one.

As industrialized nations continue to breed generations of restless youth, who neglect paying off their university debts in favor of travelling to and living in the far corners of the globe, the probability of international love increases exponentially.

Over the past 7 years, since I started travelling extensively, I have met countless international couples madly in love, and heard innumerable stories of heart wrenching separations as partners were torn apart by visa expiration's, societal pressure, employment and grad school opportunities, or obligations at "home." Until I joined this elite, yet humble community of Long Distance Loves, I could not clearly understand what it was like to be living two completely separate lives at the same time.

The first thing I have learned is that 'I never am where I am.' No matter how hard I try to live in the present and enjoy the company around me, I am always somehow a bit detached. Whether it be daydreaming about the summer that I just spent living with my taller half, or dreading the looming grey winter months and when my partner and I will see each other next, I am always partially removed from my surroundings. My days are spent wishing he was preparing dinner for me at home, while my nights turn into garbled yet vivid dreams of reality mixed with illusive angst.

The second thing I have come to depend on is the constant stream of texting, emailing, skyping, calling, but most of all future planning, that envelopes a long distance relationship. The authoritative time zones are our "Great Wall" between my morning and his night, afternoon and twilight, awake and asleep. While the widening gap between the northern and southern hemisphere becomes exaggerated by unstable electricity, fluctuating currency rates in times of economic hardship, and incomparable technology advances, for some the mental connection can begin to erode. Compared to a long distance relationship from the 1970's, where letter writing and the occasional expensive phone call may have been the only source of transnational communication, we seemingly have it easy. However, for a relationship to survive in an era where we all feel the need to be constantly connected to everyone, a day of no text messages or emails feels like a month, and a week may even feel like a lifetime.

The most important thing I have come to realize over the past couple of years, is that above all, the one thing that has kept us strong, is trust. Despite the games that my mind can play, I have to remain sane and focus on the person I fell in love with, not the cautionary tales that plague the media or stories from others. I, along with dozens of friends who are also battling with the Long Distance blues, must remember that this is not 'fate' or 'by chance' that we are with who we are with. It is a choice we make, with our partners, and one we should bend with and grow with each and every day.

If cities, states, countries, time zones, oceans, great lakes, continents, languages, culture, visa's, technology, and 24 hour flights haven't weakened our bond, diluted our friendship, nor diminished our passion then maybe this is the real thing after all. Maybe this is what love is all about. Finding that person who is there when the infatuation begins and who will still be there day after day ...near or far...when daily life sets in.