Open and long distance relationships

Hi ladies so I’m just looking for some advice and personal experiences if anyone has had or considered being in an open and long distance relationship.

So my partner (24M) and I (20F) have been together for 8 months. He lives in a different state 4 hours away from me. The last time we saw each other was in September for his birthday and we did plan to see each other around December but we’ve moved it to February so we can take a trip to Bali as a combined valentines/birthday for me. The first 3 months we were together (March to May) we saw each other each month, and then we took our longest break of nearly 4 months which was hell but we survived. Now in the last few months my sex drive has been extremely high but obviously can’t do much about it. Masturbation never feels the same as having sex, in fact when I do masturbate I want to have sex more. My partner is a very innocent person when it comes to sex, where’s I’m not, I’m more experimental and a freak as some like to say. His way of sex is something I’m not used to, but I guess I’ve settled because he can handle me emotionally (I do value emotional connections more than anything even over looks, but sex is also a big part that is important to me). I’m also not the biggest fan of sexting or sending nudes because I need that physical touch as well.

I was watching a podcast a few days ago and it talked about open relationships. So this got me intrigued and I went down a rabbit hole into it. Which is something that I would actually do while we are in a long distance relationship so definitely short term. However, once we are together in the same state then it would all stop. I’ve got a few questions and just wanting to get some perspective

1. If you are in an open long distance relationship how did you bring the topic up to your partner

2. How has this worked for you guys, is your relationship better or worse

3. What advise could you give someone wanting to begin an open long distance relationship.

And I understand that every relationship is different and it won’t necessarily apply to me and my partner. But I’d like to see both sides (good and bad) of this type of relationship. Also to mention I’m someone who can detach emotionally when having sex with others. I’ve had the same sneaky link for 2 years before getting in this relationship and I’ve never caught feelings. So for me it’s purely for the sex.

If anyone could shed some light into this please help a girl out