LDR – Paul's Tech Talk

Dealing with the Distance on the hardest of days.

PaulJune 26, 2021

Long Distance and The Pandemic

If you are in a long distance and you had your life turned upside down because of the pandemic year of Hell, Then you are not alone. There are couples all around the world who haven’t seen their partner or fiance, or even wife or husband. There is nothing that makes people like me so depressed. I am sure I am not the only one who has had those ups and down days this past year. Most borders haven’t fully opened up and the ones that do probably only have seen their Long Distance partner once or twice the whole. I’ve heard rumors about how it could take up to 8 hours to get through the whole arrival process of immigration or other things that might take even more time to travel.

The Struggles are Real

It can be so hard for couples around the world. Even sexually it can be so frustrating for even the most modest. We’ve all had those days where the need to feel their touch from our partners and that can be the hardest part of this pandemic. We don’t know when those international borders will open and I am hopeful and watching the Philippines that it will open in November or December.

Handling the distance

We all have our ways to handle the distance but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the things that I’ve learned over the years. Even the idea of buying Airplane tickets can be hard for someone to save up the money to be able to see their partners internationally. Some things to keep in mind while you are waiting:

Faithfulness — Try to keep true to your partner and try to not make any mistakes with your partner. This has definitely been real hard for most to do. I’ve heard about how hard it is and I can totally relate.
Patience — Seeing all what is going on with borders, we can have those days where we will have little or no patiences with Governments or even with your Partner. You’ll need to walk carefully on how you deal with disappoint. We’ve seen governments that have really disappointed us all.
Determination — After all you’ve been through this past few months to years. You’ll have to keep your determination and keep reminding yourself why you are in an LDR. Try to have fun and remember those really special times with your partner, that has helped me tremendously.
Understanding — This is also something you must do while you are waiting for the borders to open up. We have to remember to keep understanding our partners and listen to their needs and wants.

Strategize the meeting

Finally, when the borders finally open up for your partner and you. You should already have plans in place for the next meeting. This can be so helpful to see there is going to be a time together. This will help you see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am already doing this and we are planning for the time when we are finally together. This has helped me so much and kept us rooted in what really matters. We are also talking about closing the distance. If you can close the distance this will help you keep grounded and knowing that there is more at the end of the tunnel. These are just small tips to help you survive the distance and even the pandemic.

How LDR will change with this Pandemic

PaulJune 1, 2021

It’s Been over a year Now!

The Pandemic has hit every nation and every country hard the last months. We’ve seen a new variant to the covid19 and we even seen several companies develop a covid19 vaccine. It’s been over a year for me personally, it will most likely be 2 years if the Philippines doesn’t open up this fall or winter. I am in a LDR and I still don’t know what to expect from this government. Granted I still have to worry about my own government, but it is nothing compared to what I have been seeing from the Philippine government as of late. I guess this will be a little bit of a rant myself. I really wish everyone would get there act together and figure out a way for Fiances,GF, or BF to be able to see their loved ones.

Philippines open up already

I suspect that it will eventually open up but it been way to long and way to slow to do what is needed to open up. I know I am not living in the country or anything like that but I do think I have a right to complain because I have been patiently waiting to see my Fiance for well over a year and half. There is another petition going around to allow unmarried couples to get into the Philippines to see their loved ones. I am not against them being cautious or take precautions, in fact they make foreign nationals do a lot of stuff to verify we do not have Covid19. Let’s just be a little reasonable that’s all I am asking. We should try to make it where we can have enough time to be with our loved ones. Some Filipinos can really can get out of country due to family obligations or even because they can’t stop working because there is no way they can take time off. So I get that and I support them for doing the right thing.

It’s bound to open up sooner or later

I still think the Philippines will open up later this year maybe November or December. Although this is all speculation on my part and maybe I’ll be totally wrong. I do see things heading that way and I’ll keep preaching this until it either happens or it doesn’t happen. I know most of you have your own theories or maybe even might even see that it might be this year. I am hopeful just like everyone else but it has to open up with economy being like it is will need to open for there people to survive.

Tickets

I suspect that tickets will start to get more expensive as more countries open up. I even suspect that when the Philippines open up the air fare will start to go up. So I will be constantly looking to find those cheap tickets anywhere and everywhere I can think of. Even then I will probably be paying for the time these airlines are trying to make up for the lost revenue they had before this pandemic even started. I am sure we will see a steady spike of prices in all international travel as the air fare will be increased. Some other ways to save money is quite simply knowing when to buy and how to plan your trips. Even then it will still probably be higher than you used to get them, I can pretty much see that happening.

Finally

When each country starts to open up, you can bet there will be a rush of people to get into the country as quick as they can so they prices for tickets will be increased also. Higher demand will ultimately increase the price of the tickets on planes. So once you know, you really shouldn’t wait to find the best tickets but rather buy the cheapest one as quickly as possible or else you might be paying 3 times as much when you finally do decide to buy those plane tickets.

How the Coronavirus will effect your LDR!

PaulMarch 10, 2020

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch from Pexels

CoronaVirus (COVID-19)

It’s undeniable that we’ve all heard about the Coronavirus and the impact that is going to come from being in a LDR the next few weeks to months maybe even years. There is no telling how long this will last but I know it has an impact on me alone. I know it is going to effect every area differently but I thought I would talk about this just a little. If you’ve been under a rock or don’t know anything about this virus. You can visit the CDC and find out even more about this virus. If you are traveling you should check out the travel advisories from your current country or you can check out what the CDC advises people to avoid!

Cheaper Tickets?

I’ll say this much, the more talk there has been for this virus there seems to be a dramatic drop in prices for flights to and from places. Even looking for the cheapest ticket for your needs could provide you with some great savings. I have talked to people who have traveled as of recent and they see that the less people are traveling. Although that will also bring on lay offs for people who are in the flying industries.

Work hassles!

If you haven’t needed to worry about this, it will only be time before you will. Just like my work has there own policies in place where you wold need to be tested before you can come back to work. This can be a hassle since you are traveling and could be coming from an international travel or you could be just traveling across the state. I’ve heard companies are setting up some strict requirements for employees who are travel! I am quite surprised at what Walmart is doing to help people not go to work!

If you are like me and you can’t afford to do some of these things, and are worried about the virus. I’d recommend just waiting and seeing. I plan on waiting to see what happens in the next coming months before I buy the tickets but if I can find a really cheap ticket in the coming months, I still might go see my Girlfriend. What’s your plan? Why not leave a comment and tell others how you plan to deal with this problematic virus and are you afraid of it?

How to decide when to go see your Girlfriend

PaulMarch 3, 2020

How do you know?

It’s always a question that I’ve heard from other Long Distance couples. They always ask when do you know you want to go see this person you’ve been talking to for quite a while. I’ve heard people say they have been talking for over a year and wanted to meet each. My personal experience has been 7 months. After talking with her for 2 or 3 months, I had to go see her. So I did all the work to buy a plane ticket. Each situation is different and you have to decide when you want the right time is for you. I’m going to talk about how you will know when it’s time to meet!

You click!

This is the first way to know when you should move to meet that special someone. You get to talking and know that you just click with them. You can talk about almost anything and you enjoy just talking to them. I personally will tell you that it was something that I felt I needed to do. We just had way to much fun talking on video chats and texting each other constantly. You’ll know what it happens that you will want to see if the relationship will go even further.

You smile more!

This one is almost always part of the experiences. You start to smile more. I started smiling more every time I thought about my girlfriend and we just had way to much teasing each other. It will be different for each person but you will have friends and family see how happy you are. Even though it can be different for couples this one seemed to be me from the very beginning.

If these sound like you, you are more than ready to go see the other person and buying that ticket or traveling to go see them. I’m sure there are even more ways to know when you are ready. This is a small blog post about my experiences and how I knew I wanted to go meet my girlfriend. Each situation is different but I knew I had to go see her to see if we had the right chemistry in person.

Have you seen your other half? How did you know? Why not leave a comment and talk about how you knew for others to know your experiences?

3 Ways to Transfer Money Internationally

PaulMarch 2, 2020

Something To Consider!

Before I start talking about sending money abroad to friends or family. The first thing I must at least point out and I have had this philosophy when I started dating in an LDR. Never send money to anyone until you have physically met them. There are plenty of dating romance scams out there and until you’ve met them then you just don’t know if it’s a guy acting like a girl or someone who just wants you to be their ATM. Either way, you’ll know quite well after you’ve met them how they will treat your gifts of money. Either way, I always suggest that you be careful who you send your money to and trust fully until you know for sure.

Why send Money in an LDR?

There are plenty of reasons why you might be sending money to your Girlfriend/Boyfriend. Each reasons can be a simple as wanting to help them out with expenses, especially if you are traveling internationally. The plane ticket alone can be expensive to some. So couples sometimes want to help the other person by help paying for the ticket or help when something comes up. It could easily be that they want to save money for that wedding or save money together for a goal. Long Distance Relationships have obstacles to over come and each one of them can be a challenge for just one person. I reiterate, be careful who you send money to!

PayPal

The first way I can come up with is PayPal. I’ve used PayPal in the past and they’ve done a good job at sending money to other countries and changing currencies. I personally don’t like how much they charge to exchange the money to another currency but it has never failed with me. I know it’s widely used world wide and can be very beneficial for most people. I just don’t like the fees that are associated when you send money abroad.

TransferWise

I’ve started to use this because of some really good features. You can have direct deposits into this account and the fees are really small compared to Paypal. You can get a card for free to use abroad. It acts almost like an actual bank card. I recently got mine and I definitely will be trying this out when I go see my girlfriend in the future. You also can send money directly to someones bank account if you have that information available. The rates at which they charge you to exchange money is far smaller than anywhere I’ve seen and can save you money in the long run. It’s works just as fast as anything else I’ve used.

Xoom

Xoom is part of Paypal but they tend to be far cheaper than PayPal and has some great services such as sending money the same day. You can send money through direct deposit, have them pick it up or deliver the cash to them. Xoom has some good features but they also have higher exchange rates and other fees that you will have to pay. It is a good service and can be good for those who might need some way to send money. I personally wouldn’t recommend this one. I’d still go with Transferwise but they can be used for a lot of scenarios.

More +

There are several services that can transfer and exchange currency to send to friends and family. I’ve only listed the ones that I’ve tried and thus it’s a short list of ways to do just that. I am sure there are others and I encourage you to comment and tell people your experiences with these and other services that you’ve used to transfer money to your girlfriend/boyfriend . Why not tell people about this post and tell them how they can transfer money internationally.