10 Reasons I’m Looking Forward To One Year Of Not Living In The Same City As My Boyfriend

My boyfriend and I love each other very much but we’re also both really dedicated to our careers. Recently, his job asked him to relocate to another city for a year for an opportunity he really can’t refuse. While the prospect of a long-distance relationship indeed makes me feel a little overwhelmed, I’m surprisingly excited about what this year potentially has in store for me personally! Let me explain.

1. My apartment will exclusively reflect my personality. While my boyfriend and I don’t officially or formally live together yet, my apartment is basically his too because we spend more time at my place than at his. As a result, the decor reflects both of our personalities. While I love that my place feels like a collaboration of both of us, I’m super excited to take back the decor of my apartment and make it my own little bachelorette pad again.
2. I get to have my bed all to myself. Along the same lines, I’m really excited about not having to share my bed with my boyfriend. Obviously, I love sleeping with him and it’s nice to wake up with him every day…but a girl loves to starfish in the middle of her own bed from time to time.
3. I’ll develop my independence. On a more serious note, I’ve spent most of my twenties in relationships with little downtime between them. While I’ll still be in a relationship with my boyfriend, I’ll get to live on my own without sharing my space with him except for when he visits. I won’t have him available to help me with the day-to-day. As a girl who loves being coupled up and is used to being coupled up, I think this year will be a great challenge for me to figure out how to be by myself and carve out a new sense of independence!
4. I can make new friends on my own. I’m excited to venture out and meet some new people! Obviously, I’ll still spend time with friends that I have, but I’m looking forward to having more time to myself and therefore having more time to go out and meet new people. It’s really easy to stop going out and meeting people when you’re in a relationship because you get so used to spending time with each other so the next year is all about me and making new friends.
5. I can invest my energy and focus on my career. We’re both taking this next year to prioritize our careers in a way that we believe will elevate us individually and allow us to bring more whole selves to our relationship. So yeah, our relationship is taking a backseat to work and I don’t think that is a bad thing. I want us to be fulfilled professionally before we make any more serious moves in our personal relationship and the truth is sometimes this has to happen before moving to the next step. I’m excited for the opportunity to throw myself into work in a way that I haven’t been able to do since we started dating. And I’m excited that he will be able to do the same.
6. I can be a lot more selfish with my time. It is pretty normal for me to spend a lot of my time with my boyfriend. As such, I normally have to consider what he wants to do on the weekend or be accommodating to his preferences. Without him around as much this year, I’m going to have the chance to do what I want to do without putting too much stock into what he wants.  I plan to use this time to indulge in myself and explore my city on my own terms. It’s a precious time and I do not want to waste it.
7. Our relationship will either sink or swim. Long-distance will test the bounds of our relationship. We are going to be in different time zones and on different work schedules. I’m definitely nervous about the strain the distance might put on our relationship. But I’m equally excited to see the ways that distance will strengthen our relationship and make it richer. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and it also gives individual partners in a relationship an opportunity to clarify what they really want in a way that is impossible when you’re together 24/7.
8. It might reignite our relationship. When you’ve been in a long-term relationship, it is no secret that the spark fizzles sometimes. I’m very much in love with my boyfriend, but our honeymoon phase has been dunzo for a while now. Distance means that we will have to make a concerted effort to see each other, to keep our connection alive, and to devote time to nurturing our relationship in a way we probably take for granted now because we live in the same place.
9. I could save more money. Other than the plane tickets I’ll purchase to visit my boyfriend this year, I will likely save more money since I’ll only have to cook for one and plan for one. It’s no secret that some people in relationships tend to spend more money than people who are single, so I’m looking forward to keeping some of my cash in my wallet this year.
10. It’s one part of our long journey together. Like many modern couples, career ambitions must often take priority over your relationship. In my case, it means that we have to do long distance. But that is okay because this is a challenge I’m willing to win. I plan on being with my guy indefinitely so I see this moment in time, this one year as all apart of our long journey together.