-This is our first long-distance relationship.
-First relationship, period.
-That's true. -'Cause we're whipped.
-We've been dating for -- -Five years.
-Are we supposed to say that we loved long-distance?
'Cause we -- we didn't.
-Distance makes the heart grow fonder -- like, not always.
-Hopefully it won't be too much longer,
maybe another couple of years?
We can deal with a little bit of distance for right now.
-The travel tips I have -- -Get an airline credit card.
Commit to an airline.
Commit to one, and then, like, use as many benefits
as you can with that one airline.
-You know, we had to have that conversation about finances
and what that looks like, and we felt like,
you know, according to our relationship,
we were in a place to be able to share a credit card
with one another, rack up some points,
and be able to use those for tickets.
And we've been able to purchase a few tickets -- so, like,
here in a couple of months, we're headed to Thailand,
and we had racked up enough points
to be able to afford both of our flights.
-Flights just aren't the most, um, money-conscious thing to do,
so we typically drive to see one another,
and then we both have dogs,
and so, our dogs are best friends.
With that, we try to drive,
you know, every three to four weeks.
-It's budgeting, you got to prioritize.
-It's Cameron, the boy, he's made it.
-If you care about someone, you gotta make the --
you gotta set aside the budget to see them.
-I always think in terms of flights,
so I save up and don't splurge as much as --
on myself, so I can afford all the flights.
-I book on off days usually, so, like,
a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, and sometimes it's cheaper.
Maybe not booking during the holidays,
and scheduling time to see
before or after the holiday makes it cheaper.
So, does paying for an expensive flight matter to see her?
Absolutely. Money comes and goes.
And she doesn't.
And so, I want to be able to just see her whenever it's best,
and I guess I've never really thought about the cost.
-I want to spend time with Patrick,
and I want to put my money toward seeing him.
I take a bit of money out of my paycheck every two weeks,
and I put it right into a savings account.
So then, when I do that, I feel financially comfortable
to buy flights to go see Patrick.
I also feel financially comfortable
that when I'm with him,
I've saved up the money to spend time with Patrick,
and to really enjoy my time, and not be freaking out
while I'm with him about the money that I haven't saved up.
-I always go the cheap --
the cheapest option that I can find,
which is basic economy with United,
and you only get to have one carry on backpack,
and so that's what we've been using.
I have to stuff it
with all my stuff for maybe, like, a week.
And I, like, I roll up all of my clothes into little,
like, rolls, and stack them.
-I think that when it's long distance,
it's easy to splurge. -Yeah.
-When we're finally together. -Yeah.
-Because it's a special time. -Mm-hmm.
-But we've been able to appreciate being more frugal.
-Yeah. -With our spending.
-As our visit together's ending,
we're planning the next time we're gonna reunite,
because I don't think there should ever be a period
where there's like, "When's the next time
I'm gonna see you" -- that should never happen.
-We've been able to see each other every other weekend.
Hong Kong was tougher, because the longest period
was five months apart.
-We're trying to do it, is budgeting the time to --
to say goodbye.
It's not great if you just
kind of drive to the airport -- -In a hurry.
-In a hurry, you're kind of stressed,
there's a lot of traffic, you're running late for your flight.
That's all, you only have, like, a minute or two to say goodbye.
-That's the worst. -Yeah, that's the worst, so,
budgeting the time to say goodbye.
-It's not like you need to, like, fulfill some, like, quota
of, like, time apart,
in order to, like, see each other.
-Yeah. -If you have the opportunity
to see each other, it's like -- -See each other.
And then if you -- if it's, like, really, really difficult,
like, you know, you have to -- -You never know.
-Make it up, in a way. -Yeah.
-Like, find ways to fill in the gap.
-We FaceTime a lot, and we text on a daily basis,
and we also actually write letters,
uh, to each other, back and forth.
So, there's a few of those from her.
Good luck to all you long-distance
relationshippers out there.
Alexis, I love you, and I'll talk to you soon.