Long distance partner needs space she didn’t say how long for
I’m a 23M from Australia and my girlfriend (20F) is from Argentina. We met while doing a ski season in Japan and spent about 3 months together before returning to our countries at the end of March. We fell in love and decided to try long distance.
The first two months were great. We called almost every night, texted constantly, sent each other funny and romantic reels, and she always made me feel included in her life. Even though I was working 12-hour days, I always made time for her.
Around June, things changed. Her mum went away for 10 days, so she had to look after her younger brother and help run her mum’s restaurant while also studying for university. She reassured me that she still loved me and that the distance wasn’t because of me, just that she was overwhelmed.
From then on, communication slowly dropped. In June we only managed a few short calls. Throughout July she was still juggling work, university, and her ski instructor job. We tried planning calls, but something always came up. I believed her reasons because they seemed genuine, and she always apologised, but it still hurt.
One thing that did bother me was when she cancelled a planned call because she was out watching Argentina in the World Cup. She ended up celebrating until 5 a.m., while we’d already missed several calls. I understood she was excited, but it made me feel like I wasn’t a priority.
As July went on, our conversations became very surface-level. She stopped sharing much about her day or telling me what was going on in her life, so I started feeling disconnected.
Then on July 24, everything got much worse. While working as a ski instructor, she was first on the scene of a fatal accident and had to perform CPR on a young girl who sadly didn’t survive on the way to the hospital. She didn’t tell me until two days later. At first I was upset because I hadn’t heard from her, but once I knew what had happened I completely understood and just tried to support her.
The following Saturday, her mum also became seriously ill and had to spend the night in hospital, adding even more stress on top of everything else she was already dealing with.
A few days later she told me she needed space because she was emotionally overwhelmed and said she couldn’t even focus on her university studies right now. She also made it clear it wasn’t because of me. I respected her wishes, told her to take all the time she needed, and that I’d refrain from reaching out for now. It’s now been 8 days since that message.
Something else that’s been worrying me is that before the accident, we had talked about my planned October visit, and she suggested postponing it until next year because she expects to be too busy. During this time apart, I also noticed she removed two affectionate photos of us from her Instagram highlights—the only ones with romantic captions—although she left the rest of our photos together.
I’m trying to be patient because she’s been through an incredibly difficult time, but I’m also struggling with the distance and mixed signals. I told her I’d give her all the space she needs, but I’m wondering how long I should wait before reaching out.
Just an add on I am a anxious attachment style of person and she done so well at reassuring me the last to months and says she’s really trying to be present she’s just to busy at the moment and I believe her it’s just my brains telling me she’s slowly fading from the relationship and I am trying to think otherwise cause I know she loves me she said early July she doesn’t want to lose me because of her current responsibilities and situation and that alone makes me feel ok , I guess this was more for venting purposes to ease my anxious mind , but I’d love to hear thoughts I was planning on waiting till either the 11th of this month or the 16th of this month before breaking my silence, my birthday is the 15th and I don’t want to make her feel pressured into saying anything on that day which is why I was ganna give her till the 16th before messaging which would be 18 days since her ask for space but I’m finding it hard to keep my mind busy and out of dark thoughts so was maybe thinking of doing a no pressure check in on her on the 11th but I’m unsure , I did state I would refrain from reaching out still she’s ready , but I don’t know if I can wait much longer then 3 weeks she’s also active on Instagram and and stuff posting occasional updates which I don’t know makes me feel a bit off
Posted Aug 5, 2026, 1:26 PM UTC