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"Last week I talked about the unexpected work that goes into keeping a relationship strong. All of my friends have experienced different bumps in the road in their relationships, but I think my friend Ruth had it the hardest. Ruth studied abroad in Italy her junior year and while she was there, a cute Italian named Duccio coompletely swept her off her feet. When her fairytale semester came to an end, she couldn&amp;#039;t bare the thought of not dating Duccio. So, they decided to stay together even though they would be living on seperate continents. Three years (and countless Skype dates later) they are still together!  I&amp;#039;ve seen a lot of my other friends try to do the long distance thing and fail, so I asked Ruth her secret. She says part of what keeps her and Duccio close is sticking to their scheduled Skype dates\u2014no excuses! That means even if there&amp;#039;s a party happening, finals are coming up, or taking a nap sounds way more appealing, no one can bail. Even if it only lasts 10 minutes, they never break a date. My friends Kaleb and Taylor are in an LDR too. They met through their YouTube channels and thier friendship blossomed into something more. Kaleb took &amp;quot;online dating&amp;quot; to a new level when he created a private YouTube channel just for Taylor filled with videos of what was going on in his life. Now, they finally live in the same city\u2014in the same apartment building!  I know LDRs aren&amp;#039;t easy. When Troy&amp;#039;s band when on an international tour, it was one of the most difficult times in my life. I missed not having him there to answer the phone when I called or to cuddle with while watching a movie. But with the help of my friends, I learned that with a little creativity and a lot of effort, distance doesn&amp;#039;t have to be a deal-breaker. Have you ever been in a long distance relationship? Share your experience with me in the comments! Brooklyn blogs for Seventeen about dating every Thursday. Read her last post here! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/love/dating-advice/a28160/long-distance-relationships-brooklyn/>