The silver lining

Enter a long-distance relationship and you'll be treated to the pleasure that comes with a constant fear of infidelity.

If you're really lucky, you'll savor the financial burden of buying frequent cross-country plane tickets.

Forgive my sarcasm. There really is a good side to the infamous LDR. Twenty good sides, in fact.

At least that's what one writer for The Frisky argues. Here, she lists 20 reasons to date long-distance. Entries include reasons like "there's much less to fight about" and "you'll never feel suffocated by your SO."

The items are entertaining, but I can't get past the fact that those reasons also mark the LDR's biggest weakness: It blinds you to the necessary problems that affect traditional relationships.

Nonetheless, if you have a definite end point for the distance element of your relationship, you can learn a lot from an LDR.

A three-month cross-country separation, for instance, can remind you of the importance of independence and having friends outside of the person with whom you're romantically involved.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned from a long-distance relationship?