How the love of my life and I struggle to keep our love strong

Friday, July 15, 2011

Presents

One problem we always have, my girlfriend and I, whenever there's a celebration –anniversary, birthdays, Christmas or whatever– is getting presents for each other.

Shipping something is kind of expensive and we both agreed that it's not worth all the trouble, so we avoid that. Usually we do things for the other that can be shown or sent online. One time I wrote a poem for her. Another time she sent me a gazillion pictures. We have also exchanged videos, voice recordings of short stories we like and online postcards.

The option is getting an actual physical present and saving it till we get to see each other in person, but then we don't get the presents on the supposed dates, so it doesn't feel the same way.

For those of you that have or had long distance relationships, how did you manage this? Did you pay attention to the act of exchanging presents at all? Did you like the presents you got or would you have rather waited for a physical present?

I enjoy the presents my girlfriend gave me, but sometimes it's frustrating seeing a book or a movie I know she'd like and having to wait so long to give them to her.

22 comments:

  1. Long distance relationships are rough :(. Exchanging presents is always a nice way to remind each other that things are going well and stuff, but you should never overdo it because it might become overwhelming and costly. Some presents are worth shipping over and some are not. I think it really depends on how long they are going to be away for. I used to send my ex girlfriend a box of things right after she left to keep her occupied; books movies notes etc. Its great to see someone trying to handle a long distance relationship and tell us about it /foll0w ;)

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  2. The only relationship I've ever been in was a long distance one. The way we exchanged Christmas gifts was by actually seeing each other for Christmas.

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  3. good advice... but i would rather not be in that kind of relationship. anyways, +1 follower

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  4. never been in a long distance relationship; wish I could help :/

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  5. buy things online from stores near her. have them shipped to her, or she can pick them up from the store. this will greatly reduce shipping costs

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  6. Wait until the date, that's what I always do.

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  7. Write a letter. Note that I said write, not type one up. The thought really is what counts.

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  8. I use to think distance wouldn't work for me, now I'm thinking it would..

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  9. I pretty much do the same thing as you do. I can't afford shipping costs but sometimes I do send her things. I sent her a bracelet I made once.

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  10. Gonna follow this blog, have a bit of a distance relationship myself.. Why should distance be such a problem?

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  11. unfortunate that you guys are so far away from each other : /

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  12. Long distance relationships are very very tough. I know how you feel. Perhaps as said before, you can buy stuff online from a store near her or that delivers cheaply to where she is. Online based gifts are nice, but its not the same and sometimes it can be frustrating or repetitive.

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  13. Never had a long distance relationship, sounds hard work.

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  14. Why don´t you just move together?(would solve many many problems)

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  15. Where exactly do you and your love live?

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  16. @gimpel & @Rich: She lives in the US, I live in South America. I can't legally move to the US; I can only visit as a tourist and only for a certain period of time (say, 2 or 3 months) and I'm not allowed to work while I'm there, so I wouldn't have any income.
    She is 18, so her moving here is not a light decision.

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  17. i dont know how you do it man, but keep on keeping on.

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  18. Wow, you seem to be doing really good at long distance relations. Compared to other people at least. Keep it up!

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  19. These are the kind of problems I think no one really thinks about when it comes to stuff like this, I'm glad you've pointed it out

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  20. Had a long distance relationship- started in high school (freshman year), stayed around town for a while (2 years), she went to college and I joined the military... Stayed together for another 2 years until we decided we couldn't afford it any more and neither of us could really move.

    We managed 2 years long distance... I usually sent her flowers with a message that only we would know... We sent care packages and things like that (just stuff we needed).
    skype, if you don't skype then you need to. (or facetime, something.)

    Good luck!

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  21. Keep all the presents that would have been exchanged in your time apart, when you see eachother again have one big insane present-orgy!

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  22. Presents are good, whether in a long distance relationship or living together. The trick is to know what she's into, which for some dudes can be a no-brainer (like m'self, I consistently surprise my affianced with the stuff she was sighing about when she thought I wasn't paying attention...or simply with the thoughtfulness of the gift, obviously with her in mind) and for some it can be a dangerously dark cloud to navigate.

    Ultimately, it sounds like you're doing good, especially with the poetry and sound bytes of short stories. May I suggest, though, the catch-all of ebay or other online auction sites? Shipping can be pretty low depending on where you go, and is practically hassle-free. Some shops even gift-wrap.

    Another thing to consider is places like Barnes and Noble, or stores with some kind of international presence. If you buy online or through the store itself, they can gift-wrap and ship it from that country's store straight to her doorstep, all paid for from wherever you buy it from.

    I'm just sayin', m'man.

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