Local YouTuber, influencer and all-round queen Stella Cini needs little introduction. She’s graced magazine covers, gives her followers countless hair tutorials, and now even has her own beauty salon!
With all that’s going on in her professional life, Stella enjoys sharing her success with none other than boyfriend Daniel David Mclean, but being in a long-distance relationship often makes that challenging. She tells OurWedding how she copes with the distance and time apart.
“Dan and I have been together for over two years now, however, we have been going long-distance for the past 10 months now, with him being abroad to study marine engineering,” she reveals. “We work really well together because we are both focusing simultaneously on our careers but also doing our best to remain close and connected.”
Stella says being far apart is definitely challenging, and very noticeable at certain times, like at events or on particular occasions, “but I also feel that we are both making the best of such a situation. Long-distance is making both of us focus a lot harder on our work, while really making us enjoy and be grateful for our time together when we do meet.”
But with long-distance relationships comes a certain longing. Stella tells us what she misses most about Daniel. “I guess I miss the genuine presence of him as my best friend. We spent a lot of time together before, so I mostly miss that regularity of us meeting, and going out and doing something fun and new every time. I think we both feel we’ve grown up since he’s moved abroad.”
Stella also talks about the challenges they face as a couple, getting real about her feelings. “The hardest is definitely the potential loss of connection. When you’re in a long-distance relationship, the first few weeks are fine, but by the third week you start forgetting how much you miss the person, and you start filling up your time with other people and plans, and might potentially start disconnecting with the person,” she says. “But that is why it is so important to talk everyday, to hear about his life, and him about mine, and actually involve each other as much as possible, no matter how small or inconsequential.”
Stella says that her and Daniel meet up “about once a month, which I realise is much better than what some others have to face. For that I am very, very grateful. Hopefully I'll be going up and staying with him for a longer period of time next year, to really see how we live and work together. Obviously, this wouldn’t be a full-time thing, but it would give both of us an idea of what the future might be like.”
Stella has a word of advice to give to others starting out in a long-distance relationship. “I would tell them to always try remain connected and always be patient with one another. The distance can make us both frustrated and testy, so I'd recommend just always approaching each argument calmly and if there is a problem, approach it ‘you and them against the problem’ instead of ‘you against them’. It will make life a lot easier.”