Long Distance relationships are hard enough as it is, but they are so much harder when you miss out on spending special days with the person you love. Valentine's Day, a whole day dedicated to celebrating love, is no exception.
How do you still make your S.O. feel special when you can't spend the day with them?
As a long distance couple, it is important to communicate what makes each of you feel loved. Knowing your primary love languages is a perfect place to start! If you don't know what your love languages, there are plenty of free online tests! Try 5 Love Languages Quiz.
Once you know you and your partner's love languages, try out some of these Valentine's Day ideas to give them all the warm fuzzies this February 14th!
1. Quality Time: Learn something new
This one is different, but hear me out. If both of you want to try something or practice a new skill, do it together! You both want to try yoga? Look up some poses and make a competition out of who can do them better! You both want to learn how to paint? You can both tune into the same episode of Bob Ross and paint some "happy little clouds!"
One of you wants to know more about something the other knows a lot about? No problem! One of my favorite dates my boyfriend and I have ever done is when I wanted to brush up on my baseball knowledge. We both tuned in to the same concentrated game he found on youtube and he pointed things out that I should know and I asked questions.
Spending time learning and growing together is a great way to connect and bond that isn't just sitting on a video call and asking about each other's days.
2. Receiving Gifts: Send each other something
This one is obvious, but I kept the section broad for a reason!
There is so much room for personalization with gift giving, that you can really set their heart aflutter. This can be a mutual exchange or it could be a little extra surprise to show them how much you care. We are not people who are big on gifts, but they are nice every once in a while! One Valentine's Day, I sent my boyfriend a heart-shaped pizza, and we both got a laugh out of it.
Need Ideas? See if any of these articles get the ball rolling:
Gift Ideas For Boyfriends/Girlfriends
Gift Ideas That'll Blow Her Mind This Valentine's Day
10 Valentine's Day Gifts Your Boyfriend Will Love
5 Unconventional Valentine's Day Gifts That Are Sure To Leave An Impression
3. Physical Touch: Watch a movie together
This one is the hardest out of all of the love languages because you are obviously too far to actually touch them! Watching a movie together is basically the closest you can get to "Netflix and Chill" when you 2,000 miles away from each other. Now, Skype has a feature that allows you to share your screen and audio with the other person.
Snuggle up with a teddy bear or your favorite pillow and you will hardly notice that your partner isn't there with you-- or at least it will be the next best thing.
4. Acts of Service: Involve their friends
Who said that Valentine's Day is just for romantic couples?
This is especially fun if your S.O. has roommates. Send the friend little gifts, handwritten notes, or whatever else, and ask them to set them out for your partner or create a little scavenger hunt out of them.
Another way to do this is to pay for the two of them to go do something together. As long as they are taken care of and feel loved, it doesn't matter if you are the one to accompany them! The effort that you and their friend put into making this day special for you will show!
5. Words of Affirmation: Write them a mushy love letter
There is a reason that people have been doing this for years!
Write down all the things you love about them, all the things you miss about them, all the things they do that you are proud of, and all the things you can't wait to do with them in the future. In a digital world, it can be really exciting to get things in your mailbox that aren't bills or junk mail.
If you don't have time to write them a letter and send it in time, read it to them. Hearing those words come from your mouth will mean so much more than reading it from a screen.
