I just need some advice/another woman's input on taking breaks in a relationship. 

My boyfriend and I have been together for a year now, and he's going to be graduating college in about three months (I still have a year left). He started applying to graduate schools, some of which are kind of far away). Because of this, we are currently taking a break from our relationship, and though we're both quite upset about it, we both know that it's for the best. We want to keep in contact and continue our friendship throughout the break. He even said I could stay or visit at his place whenever I wanted to (I commute to school and he has an apartment minutes away from campus. I stayed with him three nights a week, but I'm trying to give him his space. But in the winter the mountain that I commute over is absolutely brutal so I might need a place to crash if the weather gets bad.)

Anyway, I just want to know how you ladies handled breaks (or you would handle my situation). He's my first boyfriend and I really have zero break (up) experience.