Half a World Away: Long Distance Relationships [Updated]

Now that it is getting down to the wire, just a week until I start packing up a U-Haul truck, a lot of people have been asking if me and the boy are doing the long distance thing.

Details of my personal-life aside, I have always had an aversion to the idea of a long-distance relationship.

I guess, though, it depends on what you consider "long distance". It seems that, from the get go, I have always had to travel a decent amount to see whoever I was dating. The one exception being my most recent ex, who lived maybe about 20 minutes away, but only when I was living in the city/school dorms. For the most part the travel time has always been 45 minutes to 1 hour, and at the moment it is 2 + hours. I don't consider this long-distance. A pain in the ass, maybe, but manageable (and worth it).

Surprisingly, though, Montreal isn't that far from where I live now. With no stops it is estimated to take only 4.5 hours, which adds up to about 6.5 hours from where the boy lives. Not terrible, a weekend trip, maybe. Now, let's add into the mix the fact he is moving to Colorado in October. Totally different animal.

There are many reasons I don't jive with the idea of long distance relationships, just in general.
One of the big things is the cost. For me this is especially a problem if the long distance is for an undetermined length of time. Well, actually, just the idea of having a long distance relationship when both partners aren't planning to move is just completely pointless. Anyway.
Traveling costs a lot. A lot, a lot. I like to be frugal with my spending, and the cost of having to travel to maintain a long distance relationship just makes me roll my eyes.

Really, I find the whole idea to sound very ridiculous stressful. You're never with the person, you spend all your time missing them/wanting to be with them(in person), you spend tons of money just to see them every now and then and only for a few days at a time. Meanwhile, life is going on, passing you by, and you're wasting time and money. You could be saving that money, spending time with friends, who live near you.
I also feel that in today's world, with all the different ways to communicate it can be even harder because one partner or the other may expect them to be in contact all the time, which can put stress on the other partner if they don't feel the same way, this can lead to intentional avoidance of the other partners calls/messages, stress, mixed messages, you get the idea.

Being so far away from the other person means you have no way of knowing what they are up to. You don't know what their schedule is like 24/7. It can be easy to feel as if they are ignoring you or blowing you off if they don't respond to a text or an email right away. I know that the virtual world and emails/phone messages are a big part of our lives these days, but, seriously, you live your life where you are living, you can't (or shouldn't) be glued to a screen all day.

The risk for going broke communication breakdown is just too great.

So, now that we've come to the agreement that the whole thing is a big waste of time/money let's move on to my next point.
Wasting you time = missing opportunities. (also, wasting your life)
If the situation is one where neither person is planning to move to be closer to the other then there are many opportunities that both of them will be missing to be with someone else. Someone who is right there. Someone they could have a life with and not have to wait, or stress, or travel, etc.
There is also the issue of one partner deciding to move for the other. Uprooting their life and sacrificing what they were doing for the sake of the relationship. Missing opportunities or even leaving friends and family.
The bottom line being, they are taking a huge risk for something that isn't necessarily permanent. Then what?

Keep in mind, though, my plan isn't to move and immediately begin hunting down someone closer and more convenient. To be honest my plan is to enjoy my time by myself and possibly stay single for awhile. I've spent the last 8 years in and out of relationships, with no more than a 3-4 month break in between each one. I find the idea of being single a bit refreshing.

This isn't to say I am not personally torn about the issue. I am.
I am spouting all of this logical reasoning about not being in a long distance relationship, and in the back of my mind still wondering if it could work, in my situation.

Alas.

Disclaimer:
I know many people who have had, or are still in long-distance relationships and are quite happy. It's just not my cup of tea.