Connected Across the Country

Darcy* and Matt* don’t have what is considered a “traditional” dating life. Matt, 23, lives in a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada with his 4-year-old daughter, Ariana. Darcy, 21, lives with her parents in Essex Fells, New Jersey. Here, the two of them share their thoughts on keeping their lives connected—even with 2,500 miles between them and a shared hatred of Facebook.

Q: How do you keep in touch with each other?
Darcy: Matty is a fan of e-mails. He sends me e-mail and Blackberry messages all the time.
Matt: I don’t only e-mail her! We talk on the phone at least 2 or 3 times a day. And, lately we’ve been using Skype.

Q: What is the easiest thing you guys do to keep in touch?
Matt: She mocks, but the e-mail thing works. I can send her pictures and things as they happen, and let her know that I miss her as I go about my day.
Darcy: I guess that's true. I do like Skype though.

Q: Neither of you have Facebook accounts?
Matt: No, I don't. I never created one-- you had to have a college e-mail address to sign up for one, and I never went to collge.
Darcy: NO.

Q: You wouldn't consider setting up Facebook profiles in order to keep in touch now?
Matt: I wouldn't get one, no. I like keeping my life private. Especially now that I have Ariana to consider. I don't like people knowing my business.
Darcy: I guess I could get one, but I've gone this long without one, what's the point now?

Q: What advice do you two have for people in long-distance relationships?
Darcy: SPEAK TO EACH OTHER AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. When we don't tell each other things is when we really separated from each other.
Matt: I would have to agree with that. Talk to each other and be honest. If you keep things from each other you'll regret it.
Darcy: It's true. Because our paths literally only cross when we force them to, we have to include each other in almost everything we do, otherwise its easy for things to fall apart.
Matt: Also, see each other as much as possible. You have to trust each other-- if you can't trust someone why are you spending your time with them anyway? SKYPE HELPS.


If you're not as sure about your relationship as these two are, here is some advice from askdanandjennifer.com:




Also, here is the link to Skype . It's free and actually really fun to use!

*Last names have been omitted at the request of the interviewees for privacy reasons.