The “LAT” Lifestyle: Why Some Couples Are Saving Their Relationships By Living Apart

Moving in together is usually treated as a good sign. It means things are getting serious. The relationship is heading somewhere.

Before long you’ve got a joint Netflix account and matching mugs in the cupboard. Sundays turn into lazy mornings in bed. You build up a small collection of inside jokes about the neighbor upstairs, and eventually, you can recognize their footsteps in the hallway before they’ve even reached the door.

Of course, that’s only half of it. The other half is a lot less flattering. Living with someone also means seeing them at their least appealing, day in and day out. You get to know the way they hunch over the sink to floss, and how they leave hair in the drain every single time they shower. You fight about the dishes and their taste in wall art. There’s nowhere to go when you just want ten minutes to yourself.

A growing number of couples have decided they want none of that. So they’ve come up with a workaround that promises the best of both worlds: staying in a committed, long-term relationship while keeping their own separate homes. The arrangement is known as “living apart together,” or LAT for short. But does it actually work, and can a little bit of distance really make couples happier in the long run?