How to make your relationship survive the summer

But it probably won’t

boyfriend girlfriend long distance relationship relationship summer uni relationship

It’s the end of summer term and of this year, and perhaps by some miracle, you’ve managed to bag yourself a boyfriend or girlfriend. Good for you.

But what next? An enormous 101 days of solidarity loom before you as you-and-bae reunite. It’s going to be hard, but luckily we have a fool proof guide to making sure your relationship survives the summer, and September has you singing sweet nothings all over again.

Keep up the contact

Let’s get the obvious out the way. If you haven’t already, acquaint yourself with Skype. Sure texts and calls are nice, but there’s a very real possibility you might forget what your boyfriend or girlfriend looks like. If you’re serious about your relationship, make sure you talk to each other often.

Some people even make marriages work over Skype, so if it makes you feel better, you could even have a snoop on long distance relationship forums to reassure yourself you don’t have it that bad. The internet is a wonderful place, full of people thinking and feeling the same as you do.

You’ll be back to grossing everyone out again soon, promise

Know what you want

Knowing what you want and being able to define your relationship means there’s going to be no awkward misunderstandings. Save yourself the heart break and just ask where your relationship is going. If you want to take her on holiday to Paris over the summer and meet her family, make sure she doesn’t want to go on holiday to Zante with her girls and meet new people.

Accept you will turn into a clingy, gross, infatuated mess

If you miss them a lot, you’re going to think of them a lot. Before, you played it cool. You were totally grossed out by PDA, never dreamed of using the word “babe”, and were generally pretty chill. You’re a great girlfriend/boyfriend because you’re so laid back, right?

Wrong. By one month in, you’ll have changed your phone background to a creepy collage of your other half, which took you half an hour to make. You’ll stroke it all day when no one is looking and kiss it goodnight before you go to sleep. It happens to the best of us, the only thing you can do it just accept it.

Alcohol solves almost anything

Get absolutely roaring drunk in a club full of attractive people. No seriously. Your gut instinct might tell you a club is a place full of temptation, and you should stay far away in order to prove your faithfulness to your other half. In reality, being really drunk and surrounded by temptations is actually a great way to reaffirm your commitment to your boyfriend or girlfriend.

You’ll probably send a series of cringey texts about how much you love and adore them and end up swaying to Mumford and Sons, crying into your drink because you miss them so much. Drunk dialling is always regrettable, but at least when you’re off your face they’re still all you think about. Aww.

I will wait, I will wait for you

Busy busy busy

And speaking of going out, keeping busy is definitely key in not feeling too lonely. Nothing will make you feel more depressed than waiting for the little online notification on the bottom right of your screen. Go out with your mates, get a job, whatever it is – just keep busy. This also means you’ll have something to talk about when you talk. Skype silences are 1,000 per cent more awkward than real life silences, because you can’t just cuddle or look at your phone. The whole point is you’re supposed to talk. Yikes.

Why won’t they answer my call?

Plan ahead

So you’ve got loads of free time on your hands, what should you do with it? Get started on next year’s reading list? Start thinking about getting an internship?

Nope. You’ll probably find you’ll find your mind wondering about all the totally cute things you could be doing with bae. So, why not make use of your daydreaming and plan some fun things for you to do together when you see each other again? Make a movie list to watch together. Find a cool restaurant for you two to try out, or plan a fancy meal for when you get back to uni. Having some fun things to plan keeps you busy, and also gives you something to look forward to.

Embrace the freedom

Most of all, you should enjoy the little things. Happiness comes in many forms – maybe in crossing another day off your countdown, maybe in knowing you don’t have to shave your legs for another two months. Whatever it is bringing you a little joy, relish it. Come September, you’ll have to ensure you’re as hairless as a sphynx cat with absolutely nothing to look forward to except reading week. Cherish your freedom, because 101 days of summer really isn’t that long.

And if it still doesn’t work, you can always blame the distance.