I think it can be very difficult, especially when the distances are vey long but to be honest, you'll either work it out or you won't dependant on what both of you really feel and on how committed you are to each other and the relationship.
There are just so many different reasons why things will work or not. Sometimes it won't work well enough to carry on because it'll be just too hard and after all, relationships are for the most part about being together, but sometimes....
As I mentioned, my partner and I have been together for over 4 years, 2 of which we were separated.
We originally met here in London when he was sent here to work and had a great 18 months together. But, work commitments sent him back to NY indefinately, until last year when he moved back over here to the UK to live with me.
That time was probably the hardest time for me, as it coincided with me coming to terms with reality, facing up to who I was and deciding to tell my friends and family about my life. At the same time, realising that the person who meant the most to me was 5,000 miles away in another country.
We purposefully decided not to put any pressure on the relationship. After all, we were going to be living fairly separate lives and we didn't want to make it harder for ourselves.
I'm not going to say it was easy in any way but thankfully we managed to spend a lot of time together while we were living in separate countries, even though we were still both 'living our own lives' as well (I coincidentally was going to NY a lot on work, we had holidays together, he came here etc) and both realised that we still meant a lot to each other.
We both decided that we still wanted to be together and try and make it work and that somehow we'd have to sort it out. We talked about it and agreed that he'd try to move back here to live.
I guess we were lucky because he went to his bosses who, I've got to say, for a major international bank, were pretty amazing when he told them the reason why he wanted to move back to London.
They were incredibly understanding and open to making sure stuff was sorted out and have even made the effort to make sure he's still happy now that he's been over here for a while.
As for some people, I guess it doesn't matter how far away you both are - sometimes, no matter what you do, it aint going to work and it's better to realise that sooner rather than later and be honest with each other.
However, if you really want it to work, you'll always find a way.
