Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

That phrase has proven true for the Golden Bachelorette’s Joan Vassos and her fiancé Chock Chapple, whose conflicting responsibilities have kept them separated in recent months.

“Right now, I cannot go into any details—hint, hint—but she’s doing a special project,” Chock explained to E! News in an exclusive interview, “and we haven’t seen each other for almost a month. Something’s probably going to change pretty soon, so we’ll see each other, but we miss each other.”

Thankfully, the pair have a game plan. “Joan and I, from the fantasy suites, made a commitment that we would talk every day,” he continued. “So, we talk at least twice a day, and it’s great.”

And while Chock is happy to report their first year together since The Golden Bachelorette aired has “really been fantastic,” he admits of his and Joan’s whirlwind lifestyle, “We haven’t had this real life that people normally have because you’re living in the same town, you see each other all the time.”