"Oil rig life" Sounds great doesn't it? Life on the road, eating out every night and of course, who can complain about the pay cheques!! Wow it all sounds wonderful doesn't it? Rig life does have huge benefits but it also has its down sides.

Just like any job on the road, life on an oil rig, can make relationships difficult. Wives are left at home while men are out working. This can put an awful lot of strain on a marriage.

For some couples this type of lifestyle is easy, but for others it can be unbearable. I know alot of the advice that is given to people that work away on an oil rig is to just quit. People will tell you the money is not worth the hardship it is causing in your marriage. Can you just quit rig life? Maybe.

Maybe you are finacially stable enough to just give up working on the rigs and go home to your family. Then again, maybe you are just an average family trying to keep food on the table, roof over your head and bills paid. If so oil rig life might be all you have right now.

So how do you make relationships work if you are working on the rigs?

• Call home every day. If it is possible call home everyday and let your wife know you are thinking about her. A short call can often go along ways to easing the loneliness.
• Head for home as soon as you have time off. Make your wife feel important by coming straight home when your hitch is over. By doing this you are showing your wife that although you have to work away you can't wait to get home to her.
• Stay out of the bar and away from lounges. It can sometimes be hard to avoid the bar when you are on the road, but it is very important to stay out of them as much as possible. If you are sitting the bar every night your wife will begin to feel like you would rather be at work enjoying yourself then at home with her.
• Invite your wife out for a visit. When you have been gone for an extra long time invite your wife up. If you have kids I am sure your wife would love it if you arranged for a babysitter for the kids for a few days while she came up to see you.
• When you are headed home stop and pick something up for your wife. You don't have to buy her anything huge just something that you know she will appreciate. This will show her you are always thinking about her.

If you follow these tips it will really help keep your relationship alive and keep you oil rig life.

If your wife is having a hard time dealing with rig life she may decide to leave you. First of all, don't panic...She married you because she loves you. Sometimes oil rig life is overwhelming but when there is love in a relationship you can over come just about anything. Here is a simple strategy that will almost always help.

Give your wife some space and take sometime for yourself. Don't do anything stupid..but do leave her be. Use this time apart to make a few changes in your life.

What this will do is allow you to gradually make some changes in your life and help you to have a new outlook on your relationship. This will also give your wife a chance to miss you and a chance to reflect on what it was she loves about you.

Once you have taken a step back and really had a chance to think things through you will then need to address getting back together. You need to have a strategy in place for how you will do this.

Here are a few tips

• Do not beg her to take you back. Instead play it cool. Remember she is probably missing you as much as you are missing her.
• Play hard to get, just don't over do it, Show her that you can make it without her, this will inspire her to really rethink her actions
• Be careful not to analyze things too much, because over analyzing may prevent you from acting the right way.
• Take things slow and play them cool and you should be fine.

You can get back with ex.

Just as it takes a certian type of person to work on an oilr rig, it also takes a certain type of person to love a rig hand. With any relationship you are bound to eventually run in to some type of disagreement. When it comes to love you can always work through the rough spots.

Oil rig life takes its toll on not only the men out there doing the work but also on the families at home waiting for them to come home. It is a workable situation and you will find that most rig wives love oil rig life as much as their partners. Given the chance many would not want to change their lifstyle. Yes there are times when you just wish you could be together all the time, but you know that life in the patch is part of who you are.

Understand that although your wife may get upset and need to vent her frustrations she still loves you. Be smart and be prepared for where oil rig life is going to take you and you will have a happy marriage.