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I rarely enquire into other people's relationships - they are none of my business. Some photographers feel the same way about taking other people's images - they never approach closely. This is neither a good thing nor a bad one - it is just the way some people's personalities deal with the world.
If you are one of these shooters you may choose a longer lens for your year's work. Something that allows you to put a distance between yourself and the subject. You'll have good and bad:
Good
a. There will be less interference between you and your subject. They will be less likely to react to you. There will be less fear on both parts.
b. The depth of field for any given aperture will be shallower. If you are trying to isolate your subject with a fuzzy background or foreground, this will happen more readily.
c. The background will loom larger in the shot - good if this is the atmosphere you want.
d. You'll get less chromatic aberration at the edges of most pictures.
e. Your face shots will show less distortion than with wider lenses.
Bad
a. You'll be further from the action and you may miss it.
b. You'll need to use higher ISO's and shutter speeds to ward off shake.
c. Your lens may be slower to focus than the standard one.
d. You'll get shallower depth of field - if you need more things in focus, you'll have to step back.
e. People will regard you as a photo-sniper rather than a people person. Not necessarily a bad thing, but a thing nevertheless.
f. You'll invariably be carrying a heavier and bulkier rig than the standard shooter.
I should not go much past the 135mm lens for the full frame camera or the 80mm-90mm for and APS-C rig. The micro 4/3 photographers would probably like a 50mm to 75mm lens. Fortunately for them, there are some fast lenses for this size.
There will be a lot more need for tripod and stabiliser work in the year. The telephoto shooter will learn all the classic rifleman's tricks of body position, strap tension, and breathing discipline in an effort to get sharp shots. This is fine, as it will pay off with every other focal length when the year is over.
And best of all - there will be a reduced opportunity to take selfies! Unless you have a remote release or really long arms...
Added Bonus: There are a number of dynamite macro lenses in this focal length range. Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, etc. Take advantage of this fortunate fact and don't restrict your shots to the big world far away - shoot macro as much as you can.
