My experience was more positive.

Perhaps this was on account of past experiences and our older age. Not sure, but I do know I had different expectations of not just him but myself. No it wasn't making do persay rather going into the relationship with wide open eyes. I think so too our age and pasts made communicating easier. We both recognised it was a priority and as such not only made more of an effort to do so but a resolve to be honest too. And of course it was easier to set up boundaries and make them known. Believe me, it is so much easier to speak up at age 50 than it was at age 20 or 30.

The success of a long distance relationship has a great deal to do with how often the couple sees one another and the nature of the time they spend together when they do so. A 'Disneyland' relationship (one where you spend the time together going out, eating out, entertaining) is not very realistic as you really aren't spending realistic time together. Rather, the time spent shouldn't be treated as a 'visit' at all in my opinion. Do what you would do were you living together - make dinners and enjoy evenings at home, etc. Spend down time together. Treat one another's home as though it were your own.

My three year long distance relationship did have some rocky moments but we worked through that successfully and now we live in the same city together and it feels right.