Technology has changed our lives.  We call, text, DM, skype, Marco Polo, or face time?

If you are single or “stepping out”  there is a app or site for that.  No more back alleys.  Anything you want is online.

If you’ve been in a long term relationship for for 25 or more years, it may take you a minute to heal, and take all they time your need.   There are well meaning people who  may want to introduce you or insist that you get back into the field.    Just remember who’s life it is., you are not under any obligation to date or ‘get out there” until your ready!  A respectful friend or family member should respect your wishes, if they don’t, insist they do!

First things First 

They look good, they even smell good online.  If you cant afford to travel to meet them, don’t play them or yourself.   Look in your area code!!! 

What Do You Need From Relationships?

Before falling for the romance, both parties should be aware of their emotional needs. “If you are someone who needs physical touch and/or quality time activities together to build a relationship and be happy with your level of connection, you’ll be setting yourself up for more heartbreak and disappointment,” warns Jennifer Gunsaullus, PhD, sociologist & intimacy coach  and author of the book From Madness to Mindfulness: Reinventing Sex for Women. But on the flip side, those who respond best to words of affirmation and gift giving/receiving may be perfectly content with virtual conversations and special surprises sent by mail. Further, “People who already have very busy and full lives, and also people who are independent or content living alone (if they don’t have a roommate), may appreciate the flexibility and lowered expectations of a long-distance relationship,” she says.

The short answer is that it depends on your needs, limitations, and what it takes to feel fulfilled in a romantic relationship. “‘Success’ in a relationship is not necessarily defined by a particular duration of time or a particular end result (e.g., co-habitating, marriage),” Dr. Stefani Threadgill, a sexologist, PhD, LMFT, and founder of The Sex Therapy Institute explains. “I define a successful relationship as one that creates pleasure and happiness for both people in the couple, for as long as the relationship lasts.”

That said, if you decide to give it a go, Dr. Sue Varma (@doctorsuevarma on social media), a couples and sex therapist and sex educator, says that the first step is to clarify your intentions. “I’m big on people being clear and up-front about [their intentions], in their own mind and for the other,” she says, adding, “If you are looking for a long-term, committed relationship, you may be willing to make the extra effort [of dating long-distance].”

There are also some other questions to ask yourself as you go forward with a far-away romance. Ahead, some things to consider before taking that digital step.

“The perfect man or woman is rarely local, unless local means Uganda 

There are thousands of sites online, before committing to any site or app.  Research the site, get a feel for the occupants there.   If the responses or non responses is not to your liking after a few weeks, move on to another or return to traditional dating methods.

 There are some sites and apps are designed for hook ups.  Others are more  specialized.   There are women who like men dressed in women’s clothing.  Gay  male sites who match regular size men with men who weigh 400 plus.   Take a moment, read the profiles before you commit.  While most sites are free there are other specialized sites that for

Online-dating companies are privy to the fact that people use them for travel.  Tinder launched a paid feature called Passport that lets people swipe on members anywhere in the world. And Scruff, a dating app for gay men, has a section called Scruff Venture that helps users coordinate travel plans and connect with host members in foreign countries. Scruff’s founder, Eric Silverberg, told me the company added the feature when they noticed lots of users were already posting travel itineraries in their profiles; now one in four members posts a new trip every year.

Why enter into a Long Distance Relationship? 

There’s a potential benefit of being apart—it forces you to learn how to have extended conversations with someone,” says Andy Merolla, a professor who studies interpersonal communication and long-distance relationships at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “If we think about this as a skill, distance puts it to the test.” His research has found that LDRs last longer than geographically close relationships, but only for as long as the couples stay long-distance.

One explanation suggested by his work is that long-distance daters tend to idealize their relationships. “When you don’t see your partner in person, you don’t get as complex a view of what they’re like on a day-to-day basis. You don’t see how they are in the morning just after they wake or after a bad day of work,” he says. When people in LDRs were reunited, they reported missing their autonomy, feeling more jealousy, and noticing more of their partner’s negative traits. But Merolla doesn’t think this idealization is necessarily a bad thing, and suggests it might even yield benefits for the types of daters in never met relationships. “Maybe there are people who, if they meet someone face-to-face right away, have difficulty forming a relationship or wouldn’t hit it off right away. But having the distance could open up new relationship opportunities.”

Be honest with yourself?  are your looking for forever or for now?

“Playing yourself has huge consequences”

 

The Introduction 

 

Hi…… 

or hello is  where the conversation starts.  You stumble around a bit until you find things in common.  It could be television, movies books, and sex.  In the conversation is successful  one conversation becomes two, two becomes daily and after some time you exchange telephone numbers.   And of course, you live in Eugene, Oregon and he lives in Duluth, Georgia.  Your heart is pounding   You want to see him……..

The Conversation 

 The downside of  internet relationships is often not in the same place, words on the screen or face time cant replace personal interactions.

Meeting someone online and offline is intoxicating.  Early conversations are often filled with romance, dreams and lust.   You talk about eventually meeting.   When you talk of meeting, does he or she talk of you visiting? or do you both talk about visiting each other?

Take a moment and turn down your heart and listen to words, as words matter. 

How long have you chatted?  What do you know about this person outside of sex and dreams?   Has he or she talked about friend and family? Work?  Hobbies?    Continue talking.   Listen closely to his life plans, if all he talks about is you and loving you, pause.   Do you know what he does (work) and how long he’s been on this job?  Doe’s he or she lives alone or with friends or family?  Some believe at a minimum wait six months before traveling to meet each other.

When the topic of visiting comes up, does he expect you to visit? or does he want to visit you.  If he or she comes up with excuses why they can’t visit you consider it a warning to things to come.

They’re only words on a screen and a strangers face and voice”

Red Flags

There are some red flags you can look out for through your correspondence. Dr. Varma says that flakiness, unreliability, canceling potential meet-ups, and telling stories that don’t add up should raise your suspicious. And in general, she advises, you should always trust your gut. For example, “if they are only interested in phone sex, sending sexually provocative images or messages early on, you will know their intentions, so don’t be fooled,” she says. Also, Dr. Threadgill notes, it can be easy to experience a false sense of security after just a few days of continuous messaging — and that’s not always a good thing. “Faux intimacy can be a consequence of relationships initiated through apps/online dating or texting,” she explains. “It is the sense one ‘knows’ another person, yet in reality, they have never met; it is a hazard of dating in the digital age.”

But with all this in mind, the experts agree that starting a long-distance relationship with someone you met online isn’t automatically a bad idea. In fact, it can be incredibly fulfilling for those who proceed with caution and are willing to make some sacrifices. Dr. Gunsaullus shares her final thoughts: “If you have a connection with someone that feels particularly special, unique, and supportive in a way you haven’t been able to find in your home area, then maybe you want to give it a shot.”

Do You Trust This Person?

The matter of trusting someone’s authenticity when you haven’t actually — you know — met. (After all, you’ve seen Catfish, right?).”While it’s amazing to be able to meet people to potentially date from around the world, there are bigger issues to think about before diving into a long-distance relationship that doesn’t begin by first spending time together in person,” Dr. Gunsaullus says. “The fact that you’ve never spent actual time in the same physical space together has two primary concerns: First, the other person may not be who they present themselves to be online or from a distance, so they could be leading you on. Also, it’s hard to assess sexual chemistry if you haven’t spent time together.”

Love, Lust and Money 

For months now, the you have bared your soul to this person you have never met and feel a special bond to him or her.  You have a friendship like none other. Then one day, they ask you for a loan or some other financial assistance Mortgage, Rent, school, car payment ( fill in the blank). Respectfully decline and wait.

The net is filled with miscreants, jerks, who will filled you with words of love just to get your hard earned mo-Nay.    Some will keep returning to the well until its run dry, then see ya SUCKER!!!

 

They need your help, for some reason, no one in their town, state or area code will help them.   You, So they turn to you, the person they love and trust. “Cause- One day you’ll be together”   So you trust this person WHO you have never met. WHO pulls at your heart strings and you give him or her your credit card number.

The heart can mislead. Your not comfortable, but you don’t want risk offending him or losing her, so you ignore the advice of  friends, family and common sense and you wire this stranger your hard earned mo-NAY.   In most cases, never to hear from him again.

 

How often do you contact your online friends in Ireland when you need cash?

  Most of us have friends and or family members who  we can borrow money from. The only other reason he needs your money is because he has bad credit or he has burned friends and family.

A very attractive women traveled from Texas to Sacramento to meet a man she met online.  They spoke on the phone several times a day for nearly a year.  Including the afternoon she was due to arrive.  He agreed to pick her up at the airport.  She called him several times after arriving to Sacramento. She waited five hours in the terminal and decided to get a hotel room.  At the hotel, she told the desk clerk she had given him over $14,000 to help him start of business.  She spent three unsuccessful days trying to locate the stranger she said she loved.

Loneliness ii such a sad affair 

And I can hardly wait to be with you again

Come back to me again

And play your sad guitar
Don’t you remember you told me you loved me baby
You said you’d be coming back this way again baby
Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby
I love you, I really do

Superstar (1969) Written By ‎Bonnie Bramlett‎; ‎Leon Russell

How Far & How Often Are You Willing To Travel?

Another aspect to consider is how far a distance you’d be willing to travel, and how often, in order to see your partner. For instance, would you be okay with making a four-hour drive to spend the weekend together, or flying halfway across the world two times a year? Or, would you consider a two-hour train ride a huge inconvenience, given your need to be with your beau? “How much distance you’re willing to deal with depends on how busy you already are, and how much physical touch matters and being able to do activities together,” says Dr. Gunsaullus. “It also matters how much time and money you have to be able to travel and vice versa, because a long-distance relationship, where you’re traveling quite a bit, means that your friends and work could be negatively impacted, as well as your wallet.” Of course, the commute may be more tolerable if one of you is willing to relocate, should things get serious.

Reciprocity

Is he or she willing to make the journey to visit you or are you going all the heavy lifting? (traveling)   Over time this may be problematic, unless your work takes you to that part of the country.

Do’s and Dont’s of Long Distance Online Dating

There are many wonderful stories about people meeting online.  There are also many tragic stories. There are many people inside and outside our communities wanting to take advantage of hiding behind a screen. This is especially true of opportunistic people from disadvantaged countries looking to connect with lonely men and women in western countries in order to escape their realities.

Sometimes the ego cant get enough from hearing how wonderful and beautiful you are and how its impossible to believe someone like you is single……