Long Distance Online Help

[nist]

So I met this girl online a few months ago and we really hit it off from the start. She was very flirty from the beginning and it took some time for me to warm up to the idea as I'm usually not into online chatting and such in general. Needless to say, she really got to me and I began developing feelings for her as well.

A few months or so later of video chatting and stuff, she told me she loves me. I was completely shocked she said it, but even more shocked because I feel the same way for her.
The problem is, we've never met and won't for a while. She lives in the Netherlands and I'm here in the US. We wouldn't be able to meet for at least a year and a half when I finish school and we both make enough money to somehow get together.

I'm not really sure what to do... As confident as I am that I love her, I keep thinking that it's not possible to feel that strongly for someone you've never met. And the idea of having to wait almost 2 years until anything physical is just... overwhelming.

Is it possible to find real true honest love with someone without ever meeting? Is 2 years maybe even more, too long to wait for someone? Is the entire situation just juvenile and silly?

She seems very comfortable with the situation and tells all her friends about it, even introduces them to me via the camera. She does have a lot of doubts and worries, but always seems to think that we're meant for life and we'll be together in the end. However I feel like I can't talk about it to any of my friends because I know they'll judge the whole idea of an internet relationship as completely ridiculous.

[Spring Haze]

You do realize, that after a few months, most real life couples do not say, "I love you"?

No, this is not "true honest love." Neither of you can see each other in real life situations, face to face. This is a phony environment; sitting in front of a computer screen. This girl has got her head in the clouds by thinking you two are "meant for life." She's obviously young and inexperienced, or just enjoys leading you on.

Sorry to be a killjoy, but yes this is juvenile and silly. You can't love someone you've never met. Making plans to meet two years down the road after a few months of chatting impersonally is senseless. Enjoy your youth with real life females as opposed to longing for a relationship that will never be.

[UnnamedSong]

While a lot of people say it's entirely impossible to love someone you've never met, I happen to know from experience that this belief is inaccurate. At least in some cases. The girl I am with now, I met online. She was from Germany, I am in the USA. The difference is though, that we were great friends for over 2 years first, talked almost daily, at least for a few minutes a day through that time... Finally admitted feelings to each other, met, everything is now, years later, perfect for us. We are together, and happy, and just as in love as anyone else or more even than some.

That being said though, I can't imagine having fallen for her and having it stick if not for the years between meeting initially online, and that point. Over that time we shared a lot of things, learned a lot. We knew enough to know there was something there, and sure said our "i love you's" but nothing was set in stone until we met. It's entirely possible to find love online, don't listen to anyone that tells you otherwise. But that fast? I don't know about that. Not to sound like an ass, but I mean, as well as I thought I knew my girlfriend, so many things cannot be known until you meet. How she smells. How she behaves first thing in the morning. How she walks, talks, her mannerisms when she's not conscious of being on camera, her habits, even what temperature she likes the house to be.

So while I can tell you firsthand that it's entirely possible no matter what people want to believe, it is VERY hard. We knew each other for YEARS first, and it was insanely difficult. It takes a lot of dedication, money, time, hurt feelings, frustration... A lot of people are not willing to do all that it takes after a year, let alone months. Be careful.