Can a long distant relationship really work?.

I was having a conversation earlier with a guy who was engaged to a girl in America. It didn't end well, and i wondered could it ever end well?.
Could you have a successful relationship with someone on the other side of the world? I dunno if you can.
Where's the intimacy?. What do you do when you wanna talk to your partner and there not even in the same time zone as you?.
Maybe people do make it work, and that's great, but i couldn't do it.