Summertime is among us, and that means that now is prime time for love and romance. It is the season for trips to the beach, ice cream dates, and late summer nights with bonfires and your human being of choice. This summer, I, and many others for one reason or another, have found ourselves in the middle of a long-distance relationship.

Let’s face it, long-distance relationships can go very wrong, very quickly. You are opting to remain in a relationship with someone that you can only see and hear through a screen, the whole world seems to be telling you it isn’t worth trying, and sometimes you physically ache because you just want your person back in your arms.

The way I see it, if long-distance or breaking up are the only viable options, it would make the most sense to give your relationship a fair shot, and remember the underappreciated bright side. Without further ado, I present to you: the perks of the long-distance relationship.

1. You are forced to step back and evaluate your relationship.

If you are going through a long-distance relationship, you and your respective partner have actively decided that the other person is worth his or her while. Both parties are choosing to go through a rough, inconvenient at best, situation when they do not have to. To make this relationship work, both people have honestly decided that their motivations for being together are purely about the love they have for the other person. Not the perks of always having a date, not the convenience of seeing their significant other every day anyways, not anything beyond deriving happiness from the individual they claim. Being purely picked for the person you are is a pretty cool, pretty gratifying thing.

2. You have more time to be productive than you imagined you would.

It is amazing how much time you can spend with or commuting to your significant other in a week, and I did not realize how much time that was until my relationship became a long-distance one. This summer we are both working a lot, spending time with people we haven’t been able to as much as we would have liked, and being more productive because we have the abilities to do so.

3. No babies.

Hey, this one speaks for itself. No physical contact means that, if that’s something you’d have worry about, no babies can possibly be conceived while you and your beloved are apart. Woohoo!

4. The excitement when you get to tell your person happy things.

This one is especially true if you happen to have a big time-difference on your hands; let’s use Australia and Nashville,Tennessee for example. It can often be difficult to find a time that works for both parties to sit down, talk to each other, and tell the other person stories of all the happy things going on around them, but boy, does it feel warm and fuzzy when you hear the joy in your partner’s voice and you’re reminded that your distance for a good purpose.

5. When your person comes home.

The moment you’ve waited weeks, months, and sometimes years for. He or she is finally home, and back in your arms, and everything you’ve worked for at a distance comes to fruition. You did it! All the Skype calls, letters written, good morning and goodnight phone calls clearly served their purpose because you have survived another stint apart. While I am still waiting for this upside to come true in my situation, many couples claim that this singular moment is the one that gives you the strength to keep moving forward together, over and over again.

Well, folks, that’s all for now. If you or someone you know is in the midst of the tricky long-distance relationship, the best advice I have is to give that relationship a fair shake. That means telling your partner when you’re feeling good and not so hot, having an end goal in sight, and reminding yourself every day that your loved one is worth it. Just believe you can, and make it happen.