How Long Does the Honeymoon Phase Last in a LDR?

Entering the Honeymoon Phase in a Long Distance Relationship

For anyone that’s been in a long-lasting relationship or experienced numerous relationships, it is common knowledge that the honeymoon period can be a great time of pure ecstasy. It’s a time when you crave one other’s attention and enjoy learning all of the intricate details about each other.

It’s also the time when everything feels fresh and new, full of opportunity and hope. The idea that this stage can end sometime down the road is a worrying thing, and you may be wondering how long the honeymoon phase will last.

Each relationship is different, but a long distance relationship has more factors to consider when answering this question.

Overall, and depending on which different factors you take into account, a honeymoon period can last anywhere between 3 to 13 months in a local relationship.

However, due to factors like additional distance between two lovers, having to ‘schedule’ getting to know each other, and missing the nuances of an in-person conversation, the honeymoon period between those in a long distance relationship can actually last up to 24 months.

From the moment that you meet your partner and start spending time together on romantic dates, you might feel like you are both inseparable.

The incredible memories that you both get to create and share will maybe make you wonder how either of you were ever happy without the other one by your side.

Similarly to many other couples, distance can sometimes be a driving force that either brings you closer together or separates you further apart.

There’s really no way to tell until you get to know each other better. This is the start of your honeymoon phase.

The Benefits and Disadvantages of a Long Distance Relationship

We don’t always get to choose who we fall for and it can happen in the most unlikely of situations. Nevertheless, on average, around 14 to 15 million people across the United States class themselves as being in a long-term relationship and face the challenge of both space and time.

Despite the obvious difficulties of not getting to spend every evening at each other’s apartments and having to substitute regular hand-holding for late night phone calls, the heart wants what it wants. That’s why the obstacles that arise during the honeymoon phase can either make a relationship stronger or weaken it until it breaks.

One of the main differences that you can encounter with a long distance relationship, as opposed to a standard relationship where distance might not be an issue, is that experiences tend to be more savored.

Huge time gaps between when you see each other means there’s a lot of time to plan special events and occasions – time you might not necessarily think to use or put the effort into if you see each other daily or weekly.

Moreover, that rush of excitement that you feel when a new relationship starts makes it really easy to want to cram everything into the first month.

When you both live in different towns, cities, or even countries, this just isn’t possible. It therefore means you have to extend the period of time on activities that often occur so quickly in new relationships.

Naturally, you might feel a large amount of disappointment when it’s time to return home after spending a perfect weekend getaway with your other half.

But there are unique ways you can reflect on the happy times: creating a memory box so that it’s full of tickets, photographs, and even leaflets of the places you’ve visited can be a sure way to keep the time you do get together feel more precious.

Communication in a Long Distance Relationship

Although it might seem enticing to want to chat to your loved one constantly face-to-face, across social media, on the telephone, and via text, this constant interaction can actually have a negative effect that’s just the opposite in reality: it could lead to a relationship becoming mundane and weaken your ties to each other.

A long distance relationship allows you to focus on quality over quantity so when you do get to spend time together, you naturally both want to make the most of it and discuss what’s important to you both.

Another benefit of the distance and something that’s bound to prolong the honeymoon phase is that it will potentially take longer to get to know each other. Yet, when this does happen, you will have taken your time with the process and created even further intimacy.

That’s not to say that you can’t use Skype and other video platforms to arrange set times and dates that’ll help you look forward to special chats about what’s going on in each of your lives.

As you develop your bond with your significant other, the limited communication might initially leave you feeling disheartened and missing them.

During the early stages, it’s easy to want to hang into their every single word because you just don’t know when you’re going to experience that quality interaction again due to the demands on both of your lives.

Over time, one productive way to cope with this aspect of a long distance relationship is for each partner to invest in the other areas of their lives so they can use the distance to their advantage. This helps to actually become the best version of themselves and have much more to talk about when they are reunited!

Being Intimate With Your Long Distance Partner

Understandably, the lack of physical interaction may be considered a real issue for some long distancers: from the offset when we are first getting to know our partner, we all want to look our absolute best, to uphold a seemingly overly-perfect – and almost unrealistic – persona.

Although this is not sustainable for extensive periods of time, it has been recognized that those in long distance relationships continue to put that extra effort in for longer as the relationship stage does not always move as quickly as those that have immediate access to one-and-other.

Also, the frustration of not being able to be sexually close and intimate with your partner might feel difficult in the beginning. For that, innovations in the sextoy industry have made teledildonics as state-of-the-art as possible, meaning you and your partner can still have sexual relations.

This different version of physical intimacy may really take some getting used to, at first. However, thanks to new and available technology, there are a range of vibrator apps that can be used to connect you and your partner (and your toys!) together.

Therefore, although you are both apart, you are still able to pleasure each other. Once you do have time together physically, it will only make the wait all the more worth it!

How Long is the Honeymoon Phase in a Long Distance Relationship?

Overall, a long distance relationship can result in self-improvement because being apart from your partner means you’re almost ‘forced’ to confront and focus on other areas of your life, such as your career and personal growth.

This can be incredibly rewarding but also become a burden if you miss your other half a lot. There is a lot of room for creativity as you develop ways and techniques to keep each-other engaged, to communicate, and even still sexually invigorated.

Importantly though, whilst developing your long distance relationship, both partners have the chance to learn great patience and allow everything to develop organically without the constant bombardment of being overly indulgent of each other.

Collectively, the honeymoon period has been predicted to last anywhere between 3 – 24 months but what it really comes down to is:

• how your relationship works.
• the level of effort that you both put in during the time that you do spend together.
• and the speed at which you progress through different phases of the relationship.

Distance can commonly be considered as something negative but undoubtedly, there’s a lot each partner can gain from it. It also helps to contribute to their own self-efficacy and progress across all facets of their life.