While having a summer fling is fun, you may find yourself in too deep with your summer romance and you may want more from that other person. So, how do you let him or her know you're ready for something serious? Below are some tips:
Keep in touch...
Thanks to social media, friendships and relationships built during the short summer holidays can continue online, and perhaps progress into something deeper. Make efforts to interact with your summer fling on the internet. If you find an article he might like, you can post the link to his Facebook wall or tag him on Twitter.
However, don't run the risk of becoming a stalker. Minimize your social media contact to what is appropriate. "Too much too fast can come off as desperate and stalker-esque, which is definitely not the vibe you want to put off," said Amy Baglan the founder of the dating Meet Mindful dating site, via Glamour.
...yet let the other person long for you.
As much as you want this to be a real relationship, your life does not have to stop when summer stops. You have friends and other hobbies or interests to occupy your time and you should enjoy these even without the other person. The separation may even work wonders for you and your fling, who could see that there's this other side to you than just the girl he hooked up with last summer.
Appreciate the time apart...
In most cases, summer flings that turn serious become long distance relationships, which brings new challenges - and perks! "Sure, you miss your partner and ache to see them again, but that ache is exactly what fuels the desire and passion in the relationship. Missing out on the mundane allows for your relationship to flourish on the ups of life without having to worry about paying the bills, what to cook for dinner or getting the kids up and out the door in the morning," said Kristen P. Mark, from the University of Kentucky Sexual Health Promotion Lab, according to CNN.
...but make the effort to really get to know each other.
Taking the next step in the relationship means establishing more emotional links. Are you ready to let the other person meet your friends or family and become familiar with your work habits and routines? Are you willing to do the same?
At any rate, even if you make an effort to see each other occasionally or to meet each other's friends and family, but you both decide that that this is not the relationship for you, you could end up making a friend instead, according to JDate.
