There is something bothering me lately, and it's preventing me from progressing with school and work. Not good considering the exams are coming up and I need to be there for my boss.

I see all the couples on the street, holding hands, and I find myself thinking that I really want that too. I've been lonely for some time now. It is just that I'm a very strict when it comes to my goals. I now live in Norway, but I really really want to move to London permanently one day. That is my number one priority. I know that if I find a guy in Norway, it will be really difficult to persuade him to come with me to London. I really don't know what to do. Because of economical reasons and my education, I cannot move to London yet, still I want company.

I have asked my friends about it, but they were little help. One of them even said; "Don't you worry, when you find someone you like, you will want to stay here." I remember I wanted to slap her then. (I know that her goal is to find a man, have kids and live a dull life in peace so her opinion doesn't really matter) Another friend said I should explain my wishes to the guy in the beginning of an relationship, but isn't that a little weird?

If you have some advice, please share with me :) I need to get this out of my mind, so I can move on.

The way I see it is that you shouldn't let your future plans stop you from doing things in the present. If you find someone you like and want to start a relationship with them, go for it! There's no sense in denying yourself happiness because you might move abroad sometime. My boyfriend wants to move to America someday; I don't. If he's serious about it, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But for now we are happy :)

Even if you find a guy and love him and he won't move when you do, you'll have many people and things to love in your lifetime. One lost ultimately won't be as harmful as you might think.

You know, the cliche, "It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

Even a love you know is temporary can be fulfilling. And either way, you're not even talking about love! Just companionship and affection =)

Just take it a step at a time. no reason to rush anything. And even if you find the love of your life somewhere that doesn't mean you'll end up living where you guys met. People fall in love and move together all the time, from just down the block, across the state, across the country to even other continents. So don't stress on the moving part til it's time :) Just do what you need for school and life will eventually work to have someone in your life. As greedy as it sounds just focus on you and your current goals and get them done (like school) and life will work how it will. I personally always found I had more people attracted to me when i was focused on things for me VS trying to find someone to date.

Why is it weird to talk about life goals right away? If he had plans to move to Serbia in the next six months, I reckon you'd want to know. Besides, ambition is attractive, and you never know, it might be his dream too.

People are very stuck on 'don't over share'. Everyone's too afraid of turning someone off, but honesty, and being up front about wants, needs, and desires in life and in a partnership, is key. You wouldn't want to date someone then twelve months down the line figure out that they're horribly against marriage while you're dreaming of a white wedding. The same goes for other big things like kids, and major life goals like dreaming of living in London. I also believe that sex fetishes should come out early in dating. Maybe not first date, but you want to know before he's strapping himself in his home made den of leather fun and you're waiting for candles to be lit.

A good relationship will encourage your personal growth, not hinder it. Someone who loves you will be willing to find a way to make it work until your stars can align again in the right way, and if not, he will be a jumping off point where you learn about yourself, what you need and want in a future relationship, and who knows, might give you new ideas and perspective. Every person you spend time with helps you grow in some way, even if you don't realize it.

Enjoy dating if you can while you're expanding your horizons.

Thank you all so much for all the great advice. I feel better already =^_^=

You will find someone. Trust me. :) I think that you shouldn't let future plans/goals affect your love life.

At first I was the same as you. I refused to go out with my now boyfriend. I even told him to get over me. The reason why? Because I had plans of my own to move in future, we were in "different stages of life", and other complications.

Long story short, I was miserable. I tried to ignore the issue but I couldn't. Before I knew it, I started to like him even more because he was being so understanding even though he was miserable too. I figured opportunities where two people are into each other don't happen ever day. I decided to take a chance with him, despite my future plans and such.

We're now in a really good relationship now and I've never been happier. :)

In short. I think that you shouldn't let future plans stop you from taking a chance with someone.

First, I would like to assure you that her wanting to be married and have children does not make her opinion worth any less, that's just insulting. Considering this thread is called 'priorities', I personally think one of your top priorities should be to be more considerate of your own friendships. She's not less of a person because of her own personal choices in the matter; not everyone had grand dreams of moving abroad and having some great career. Sometimes a simpler life is what makes someone happy - who on earth are you to assume they're worst less because of it, that their opinion matters any less than someone else's? Yikes.

In any case, that aside.

I don't really have much to add to what people have already said. Don't worry about it, if something happens organically then let it - make your plans known, and if the guy is okay with it, then take it from there. When you overthink things, they just tend to become more difficult to deal with. Good luck, and kudos to you for putting your education first.

First, I would like to assure you that her wanting to be married and have children does not make her opinion worth any less, that's just insulting. Considering this thread is called 'priorities', I personally think one of your top priorities should be to be more considerate of your own friendships. She's not less of a person because of her own personal choices in the matter; not everyone had grand dreams of moving abroad and having some great career. Sometimes a simpler life is what makes someone happy - who on earth are you to assume they're worst less because of it, that their opinion matters any less than someone else's? Yikes.

In any case, that aside.

I don't really have much to add to what people have already said. Don't worry about it, if something happens organically then let it - make your plans known, and if the guy is okay with it, then take it from there. When you overthink things, they just tend to become more difficult to deal with. Good luck, and kudos to you for putting your education first.

You are right, I shouldn't have said that about my friend. I just didn't like what she said to me, it sounded like she was putting all females in that position. Bending my course of life because of a man is not an option. Every couple around me in life, break up because of some silly reason. (Most common because the man cheated on the wife.) A relationship is not ment to be until death anymore it seems, but that is what I want. The moral on that front is very low. That is why that priority doesn't come first with me. I should respect that someone believes in true love, althought I do not. Thank you for that critique :)

Telling your significant other in the beginning it actually very crucial to a relationship. You don't want to talk about having kids or getting married... with them in the beginning. However, if you do intend to have kids and get married someday, that's always a good thing to bring up so that you don't fall in love and they consider you a fling. The same thing goes with London. That's probably a lot less scary than talking about wanting marriage and babies. XD He may just end up wanting to move to London too. You never know until you say so. c: