Dating for 6 months, meeting for the first time: Singaporean man and partner finally together in Turkey despite Covid-19 hurdles

Love knows no bounds.

Most of us are familiar with that phrase but what happens when you're in a long-distance relationship (LDR) and actual boundaries are placed between you and your partner?

In a global pandemic, closed borders, quarantine orders, and travel restrictions add to the already challenging nature of LDRs.

On Sunday (June 13), Reddit user Falvarius, whose real name is Izzul Razali, took to the platform to post pictures of him and his girlfriend finally getting to see each other in the flesh after six months of dating online, warming the hearts of netizens. 

"To be honest, this was the first time we met face to face unless you count the endless amounts of video chats we did," he told AsiaOne, attributing their months apart to the pandemic. 

Nerves aplenty 

The pair are both university students in their early twenties, but she's from a city in Northern Turkey while Izzul's based in Groningen, Netherlands. 

After going through several waves of the pandemic, the Netherlands finally began its gradual reopening this April after months of lockdown measures.

And over 3,000km away, Turkey, too, loosened some of its restrictions on June 1, relaxing curfews and allowing restaurants and cafes to reopen. Fortunately, as Izzul is a tourist, he is exempt from the curfews altogether and only had to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test on arrival. 

At first, there was "intense awkwardness and nervousness" between the couple, Izzul recounted, explaining that they got to know each other online and hadn't seen each other in the flesh before this. However those feelings dissipated very quickly, he added. 

Under the subreddit r/longdistance, the post has garnered quite a bit of online attention with over 700 upvotes at the time of writing.

In the accompanying selfie, the couple, both donning blue tops, are seen posing with a thumbs up sign and wide smiles.

The two of them have known each other for about two years before they started a relationship a few months ago, Izzul revealed. 

Along the way, he seemed to have picked up a new language too! Here, a netizen conveyed their best wishes to the couple and Izzul responded in full Turkish.

Face to face, but how? 

In the comments section, Singaporeans, seemingly in similar types of relationships, quizzed on Izzul how he managed to meet his girlfriend amidst the restrictions brought about by Covid-19.

Netizens were curious if he'd gotten a specific visa or if he would need to serve a quarantine order should he come back to Singapore.

Izzul responded by apologising for not being able to provide much help as his circumstances are likely to be different from theirs.

“I was in the Netherlands for university at the time of the pandemic, so I wasn’t subjected to the travel restrictions imposed by the Singaporean government,” he explained.

Covid-19 and LDR

When asked about the challenges of LDRs, Izzul admitted that it can get tough, being halfway around the world from your partner.

To counter these challenges, he and his partner set up schedules where they periodically chat online.

And they aren't they only ones dealing with the distance. Since early last year, those caught off guard by travel restrictions and border closures have had little choice but to live separately from loved ones.

For couples in similar situations, Izzul shared some words of motivation: "You guys got this, despite being a world away, you are all beneath the same skies."

amierul@asiaone.com