Love knows no boundaries, but in 2020 some boundaries have become more impervious than ever. Covid-19 has hit couples in long-distance relationships hard. Long-distance love has always been difficult, but frequent international flights and relatively open global borders made it possible. The global pandemic has left many long-distance relationships in a holding pattern, unsure when they will physically hold each other again. In this episode of our special Covid-19 series, Samantha, a recent NUS graduate, shares her experience maintaining a long-distance relationship with her partner in Australia. She explains how they use technologies to share their lives and reveals her frustrations with their unknowable future.
Please visit our “In the News” link for information on Chris’s talk at the Royal Geographical Society-Singapore on 14 January.
Sound effects from freesound.org. Music from audioblocks.com.
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– Rose, Gillian. (2003) “Family photographs and domestic spacings: a case study,” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 28:1, 5-18.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-5661.00074
Additional Links about Covid-19 and its impact on long-distance relationships:
– Travel Restrictions wreak havoc on Long-Distance Relationships:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenelevine/2020/07/19/travel-restrictions-wreak-havoc-on-long-distance-relationships/#4089615a74b3
– Coronavirus: The couples who faced lockdown love dilemma:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-53052557
– Couples separated by Covid-19 border controls reunite after 9 months:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/couples-separated-by-covid-19-border-controls-reunite-after-9-months
– Article on long-distance couples advocating for immigration restrictions to be relaxed:
https://theindependent.sg/loveisessential-will-singapore-follow-the-eu-and-open-its-borders-to-partners-separated-by-covid-19/
– Article on a couple separated by 6 months, “Love is not tourism”:
https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/lifestyle/-love-is-not-tourism—says-couple-separated-for-six-months-by-coronavirus-12996466
– Article on increase in LDRs in recent years:
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2019/05/long-distance-relationships/589144/
– Tokyo DisneySea, 2019: Cameron flew over from Australia to spend the spring break together with Samantha in Japan where she was having her year-long university exchange
– Perth, 2019: Spending Christmas and New Year with Cameron and his family at a beach retreat in Perth, Western Australia
– Singapore, 2020: After Christmas in Perth, the couple celebrated Chinese New Year with Samantha’s family in Singapore. This was the last time they met in person, right before the Covid-19 situation started spreading in Singapore
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