Hi all,

I've been seeing my LTR for about 6 months now. Its been going well, regular sex, and I'm enjoying the intellectual and emotional aspects to the relationship.

Our summer plans mean that we have to spend weeks apart from each other - first 7 and then another 3, with a few days of seeing each other in the middle. I feel this is an acceptable amount of time for us to remain committed without seeing each other - there is always an end in sight, and we'll be around each other all the time next year, she's not promiscuous nor has she ever cheated.

However, I've been struggling with how to keep in touch with her, and what to tell her. When we text, I've been trying to put in 2/3 of what she gives me, replying later, sending fewer texts. However, she does the same thing (she has told me that if I take a long time to reply she won't reply when she can, she'll wait an equal amount of time). What this means is that our conversations lengthen out and dwindle in content - this doesn't seem particularly healthy or helpful. They also have stopped having affectionate, telling each other we miss the other etc. When two people play the power game over text, it doesn't seem to go well.

I'm not sure whether to call her out on this - to say its immature of her not to reply when she's ready. Personally, I'd rather have a 20/30 minute back and forth with instant replying and then not speak for the rest of the day, than receiving and replying to her texts every few hours or more. However, I don't want to come across as needy. Part of me feels she's going through a very similar struggle herself, and that if we were just honest we could both avoid this, but I don't see why I should be the one to say that.

I try to Skype rather than text, as its more direct and cuts through this bullshit, but Skype isn't always an option.

I think its obvious from this that I do miss her, and in an ideal world would like to talk to her more than we currently do. I'm struggling to figure out if my current strategy is leading us to talk less.

TLDR: Away from LTR for a few weeks, suggestions for how to stay in contact with her?

What should my texting strategy be with her? Should I directly ask/challenge her on her texting behaviour? *Should I tell her that I miss her and want to speak more often?*