Trying to Make a Long Distance Relationship Succeed

Fifteen months, ten days and a couple of hours ago I was fortunate enough to meet the girl of my dreams. We met in the most romantic of settings, Aix-en-Provence, a chic, bourgeois town buried deep in the heart of Provencal France. We were both British students spending the year sunbathing and sipping pastis under the pretence of supposedly studying French Law. Immediately smitten, I spent the next twelve months convincing her that she loved me as much as I loved her. The year passed in a whirlwind of adventures together experiencing all of French culture to its fullest.

Like all of the good things in life the mind-blowing year had to come to an end. After kissing 'The One' goodbye at Marseille airport, I boarded my flight back to sunny Scotland vowing never to let distance come between us. However I was aware that my cosy relationship in idyllic, sun kissed Aix-en-Provence had reached the end of its glorious chapter and a new, more challenging one was about to commence.

'The One' is from the Isle of Man, perhaps one of the toughest places to get to from my hometown of Aberdeen, especially for a financially stricken student. We had agreed to meet up every second weekend and damn it in the name of love I was not going to let my sweetheart down. Over the summer I found a job in an office and I spent my days answering phones and sending faxes in order to finance my romantic journeying. I blew every single penny earned in my first month to pay for two trips to the picturesque island known best for motorbike racing and cats with no tails.