I'll follow you down (but not that far?)

Rose is out, but she left the following for our loyal readers.

This post comes special to you from Washington, D.C. My travel buddies
(two friends and my boyfriend) and I walked down to the White House
Sunday night to see the home of our president. We stood at the wrought
iron fence, and my friends contemplated how far they could get before
the police stopped them if they jumped the fence. They didn't jump it.

Seeing the White House got me thinking about presidents' wives and how
they probably had to give up some of their own ambitions in order to
let their husbands follow theirs. Let's face it, when you're the
spouse of someone running for president, you throw yourself into that
activity. You're on the campaign trail, and you're putting a smile on
your face so that you look like the perfect couple and the perfect
family. Then, if your spouse is elected president, you take on all the
duties of being the First Lady (or, hey, maybe First Lad in the
future). Not that being the First Lady would be all that bad a gig,
but if you have another career you're working toward, it can be a
bummer to put it on hold.

This issue is not unique to the presidency. It can apply to anyone in
almost any career, whether you're a man or a woman. Nowadays, most
women have just as many goals and just as much drive as men. While in
the past, it may have been typical for a woman to follow a man on his
career path, that isn't necessarily the case anymore. Women aren't
likely to give up their own goals to follow their man's. For example,
I have my own goals I'd like to reach in journalism. My boyfriend has
his own goals he'd like to reach in his chosen field. Ideally, we'll
be able to keep working and living in the same city, but in these
tough economic times, that may not always be possible. If one of us
has to move, it's not a given that the other one will be able to
follow.

So how do you have a relationship without either of you giving up your
career goals? Do you just roll the dice and hope for the best? Or do
you make a plan, like I'll do this for you this time, and you do this
for me next time? Or do you follow your own path, and try to keep the
relationship even if it's over a long distance for an undetermined
amount of time?