After months or years of living away from your wife or husband, you’re finally able to be together. You’re no longer in a long-distance marriage and it’s time for all the dreams you had about what normal married life would be like to come true.

The thing about relationships though is that even the most positive change, like finally being able to live together, can have some unexpected side effects. And while there’s a lot of marriage advice out there on how to make long-distance work, there isn’t much on how to adjust to married life together after years of being in a long-distance relationship.

New Routines

Living together after long distance is just like being newly married. You can’t continue with your old routines and expect your spouse to fit into your routines. You need to develop new routines as a couple.

Some of the routines you might want to consider are eating at least one meal together as a family, doing some fun activities together every weekend and attending church together. Keep in mind that you might need to adjust your new routine several times before you find one that works.

Personal Space and Alone Time

When you were living apart, you got used to having a great deal of space and alone time. It goes without saying that spending most of your time in each other’s spaces will take some getting used to. In the mean time, both you and your spouse need to give each other personal space and time.

This might require creating a physical space for each of you to “get away.” This way, you don’t have to leave the home to unwind; you can just retreat into your “cave” for an hour or two.

It’s also perfectly fine to want to spend time with friends and family members. You don’t need to spend every waking moment with each other to prove that you still love each other.

Married life after long distance requires you and your spouse to develop new routines. This can be a bit challenging but as long as you both stick with it, you’ll make it work.