My husband and I had a long distance dating relationship and engagement. The total time of long distance love was 16 months (8 dating; 8 engaged and planning wedding). We obviously made the relationship work, but neither of us was interested in keeping it long distance indefinitely. Once he proposed and I accepted, he began looking for a new job where I lived and we made plans for when to get married, where to live and when to move in together (we began living together after we got home from the honeymoon). We have now lived together as husband and wife for fifteen years, so the long distance part is more and more of a distant memory.

Based on my experience, I would definitely encourage people to not let the distance get in the way of pursuing a relationship with someone who seems to be a good match. I would also say, like you, that you want to make it a goal for the relationship to not be long distance indefinitely. Either you break up because you're really not right for each other, or you get engaged and then you start making plans for a wedding and also make plans for living together after the wedding in the same house in the same geographical location. As long as the long distance period is transitional, I think it can work very well. Sticking it out can be a great way to test your commitment to each other. Just don't keep it that way once you know that this is the one with whom you want to spend the rest of your life.