On Doing Long-Distance

Having dated a touring musician for over five years (!), one question I have frequently by people wondering how I am handling the time apart while he's on tour been asked is if I miss him. The short answer is yes; the long answer includes the explanation that it's really not so bad.

I'm not sure if people imagine that while he's off touring that I am sitting at home mopey. I promise, I'm not.

In university, I considered tours as blessings in disguise as they allowed me to focus on school. In my last year, he went on two six-week tours in the fall and spring; the latter allowed me to hibernate to finish and defend my thesis without feeling guilty about having to focus on school so much.

No longer having school to throw myself into, I have two other ways I typically cope with being apart. First, I follow the tour. I write the tour stops in my agenda so I can refer to them easily. I find comfort in knowing where he is ton a certain day. When I was in France, for example, it felt like with every tour stop he was getting ever so much closer to me. Second, Peter has for the most part always been in bands whose music I genuinely like. When I listen to his band's recordings on which he's played, I feel closer to him in a way, which in turn I again find comforting.


(Map pinning me in Vancouver and him in London)