You could stream a favourite TV show through Netflix or Hulu at the same time and FaceTime to discuss that plot-twist at the end after. You could deliver a care package overnight when they’re sick with the flu, or cook the same meal over Skype so you can sit down for dinner together (even if it means eating pasta at 7am), the list goes on.
It could almost be the case that the sheer amount of technology available at our fingertips to maintain a connection could even put long distance couples at an advantage.
Natalie Bazarova, a communications researcher at Cornell recently told
Wired, “It appears that long-distance partners can engage in more partner idealization and enhanced levels of self-disclosure, which can result in even greater levels of intimacy and satisfaction than geographically close partners.”
So, perhaps the conversation about whether you should take the leap and make the distance work doesn’t have to be a touchy subject to dance around anymore. Sure, there’s many experiences that technology can’t wholly replace, but it’s certainly not the landscape it once was.