I think you need to be very invested and committed not only to the relationship, but in truly communicating. Even though you've known him for that long, you won't truly, truly know him until you've spent some time with him.

I was in a long-distance relationship with my husband...and it ended up that he lied to me about some material issues. Issues that even some of his closest friends didn't know existed. Now, we're struggling with the consequences of that. I keep thinking...if it hadn't been LD, if we'd at least dated for a year in the same city, even if he never outright told me, I would've been able to see with my own eyes what was going on with him.

AT THE SAME TIME...in college, my friend met a boy online, and they had a long-distance international relationship for about 4 to 5 yrs. He then moved to the U.S., they got married, and they're still living happily with two children.

So it *can* work...you just have to be extremely careful. Good luck.