Long distance relationships aren’t what they used to be – not even just five years ago. The world is smaller because of technology, and long-distance relationships are easier as a result.

The days of expensive, long distance telephone conversations and occasional letters traveling back and forth by “snail mail” have disappeared in favor of much quicker forms of communication – cell phones with cameras, e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging and Web cams.

Anne and Bill Bacon of Portland, who have what could be considered the granddaddy of long-distance relationships, have felt the change dramatically.

The Bacons have been married for 30 years and have raised three sons to adulthood. All those years, however, they’ve spent more time apart than together.

Bill Bacon is a merchant marine who has worked across the globe on various types of vessels including cruise ships, commercial transport vessels and oil rigs. That work has routinely taken him away from Maine, where the couple has lived for 29 years, for as much as eight to 10 months out of the year. In the meantime, Anne Bacon has stayed at home, raised their children and run the day-to-day routine of their lives.

According to statistics from the Web-based Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships, the Bacons are among an estimated 2.5 to 3 million married couples and 3 to 4.5 million dating couples nationally that consider themselves long distance.

Dr. Gregory Guldner, director of the center, said long distance couples are on the rise. Between 1999 and 2002, long distance marriages increased by an estimated 385,000.

Guldner attributes this increase to singles getting greater exposure to singles from other locales, as well as internet dating, which can bridge distances and spark a legitimate relationship.

“People travel for their work. They commute farther. They generally travel more than we did just a few decades ago,” said Guldner. “All of these things make it more likely that they’ll fall for someone who doesn’t live nearby.” Added to that is an increased willingness on the part of singles to invest in a relationship from a distance and have faith that it could work, according to Guldner.

When Anne Bacon met her future husband, she knew she was choosing a life where she wouldn’t see her partner for much of the time. Over the years, the couple occasionally struggled over whether it was worth it being apart so much. But she said they made a commitment and stuck to it, however difficult it might be.

Part of the problem was that Bill Bacon was out of reach of regular mail or telephone lines because he was out in the middle of the ocean. The only way a letter could reach him was by helicopter.

In the last five or so years, however, all that has changed with the increased adoption of new technology.

“Oh, Lord yes,” said Anne Bacon. “It makes a world of difference when you’re not looking at weeks or months to hear back. Now I can just flag an e-mail and get a response back that day.”

Bill Bacon agrees. Cell phones and e-mail, in particular, have made their lives much easier, he said. While they may not e-mail or talk every single day, every other day is common – a big change from the days of months without a word.

Anne Bacon said her husband was on an oil rig when her father died and, by the time he heard and was able to call, her father had already been buried.

But things like that don’t happen now.

“There’s not a lot of big surprises anymore,” said Bill Bacon. “It’s a tremendous boost.”