Björn saw me on TikTok on a random day. I had an account where I posted small, silly sketches, including clips of myself singing. One day, Björn unexpectedly came across one of my videos. From the very beginning, he secretly had a crush on me, although he was too shy to admit it at first.
Björn reacted to one of my videos, and about a week later, he followed me on Instagram. I recognized him and decided to send him a message to thank him for the follow. He replied with a very sweet message, and from that moment on, we started talking more and more.
What began as simple conversations quickly turned into a deep friendship. Our connection became stronger and stronger, even faster than either of us expected, which was both exciting and a little scary.
At that time, I was not looking for a relationship. I had lost a lot of trust in people and had not had many positive experiences in my past relationships. We both struggled with fears and insecurities. We were afraid of rejection in different ways, while Björn also had his own fears surrounding love and vulnerability. Still, despite everything, we kept choosing to stay in contact with each other.
Eventually, we both desperately wanted to meet in real life, but there were many personal obstacles standing in the way. Together, we had to work through those challenges. Our journey was filled with ups and downs, but no matter what happened, we always chose each other in the end. We showed incredible patience, understanding, and care for one another.
After a year of talking, growing closer, and supporting each other, we finally decided to take the leap and meet in person. I traveled from Amsterdam to Antwerp, where Björn was waiting for me at the train platform. The moment we saw each other and held each other for the first time, the spark instantly became real. It felt natural, safe, and right, as if we were two puzzle pieces finally finding where they belonged.
From that moment on, we never wanted to let go of each other again. We also felt as though life kept giving us little signs that we truly belonged together, and to this day, we are completely certain of it.
Björn comes from Belgium, while I come from the Netherlands. Even though we come from different countries, we actually live quite close to each other geographically. We both speak Dutch, although Björn naturally speaks Flemish, which means that certain words, sayings, or expressions can sometimes differ slightly. Most of the time, we understand each other perfectly, but every now and then, these subtle language differences can lead to funny misunderstandings. Still, the cultures of Belgium and the Netherlands are very similar overall, which makes things feel familiar and comfortable between us.
Being in a long-distance relationship is not always easy, but no matter the distance, we always try our best to stay connected. We text each other every day. One of the hardest things for us is not always knowing when we will see each other again. Those moments can feel really difficult. Whenever we do know the date of our next visit, everything suddenly feels lighter and happier. Then we have something to look forward to together.
Björn works evening shifts, so most of the time when we call or FaceTime each other, it happens late at night after he finishes work, usually around midnight. Even though we are both tired, those moments mean so much to us. The second we see each other’s faces on the screen, we instantly feel happier and more at peace. Just hearing each other’s voices and sharing our evenings together makes the distance feel a little smaller.
Still, nothing compares to being together in real life. Communicating face to face feels so much easier and more natural. Misunderstandings disappear much faster when we can simply look at each other, hug each other, and truly be present together. That is why every moment we spend together means so much to us, because despite the distance and challenges, we always feel strongest when we are finally side by side again.
Because we have so many dreams and ideas together, we created a bucket list filled with things we want to do. We especially love spontaneous ideas. Together, we dream of experiencing as much of life as possible. We want to travel together, discover new places, create adventures, and simply enjoy life to the fullest side by side.
One of our favorite things to do together is having relaxing spa days. Recently, we also discovered a new shared hobby: visiting water parks. We went to a water park with slides in Belgium and absolutely loved it, so water parks have now become one of our favorite kinds of adventures together.
I am also a huge amusement park enthusiast and hope to turn Björn into a true theme park fan as well.
At home, Björn loves to cook. In the evenings, he puts on music while we enjoy romantic dinners together, creating cozy little moments we both cherish deeply.
We are also both huge geeks and love gaming together. We enjoy games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, The Sims 4, Jackbox Party Pack, Just Dance, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Mario Party. We even stream and create content together on our Twitch account from time to time: www.twitch.com/flowerbearyvibes
Björn has always wanted to inspire other people with his own experiences, thoughts, and view on life. When our relationship started growing, he realized he wanted to share that inspiration through our story together. That is why we decided to create our own Instagram page called www.instagram.com/flowerbearyvibes, where we share moments from our relationship, our adventures, our hobbies, and the little things that make us happy together.
Besides that, we also created our website, www.flowerbearyvibes.com, where we share our blog. We want to be open and honest about both the beautiful and difficult sides of life and love. We hope that by sharing our experiences as a couple, especially as a long-distance couple, we can inspire other people and simply bring a little positivity into their lives. Hopefully, we can connect with people wherever they are in their path through life who relate to our story and the way we see life.
In the future, I want to move to Belgium to live closer to Björn. After that, we even dream of emigrating together to another country someday. We are not completely sure where yet, but wherever life takes us, we are excited to discover it together.