Night shift: like a different time zone?

My emergency physician husband is pretty much exclusively on nights now. The lack of flipping back-and-forth is great for him, and it’s not like I never see him. I’ve been struggling for the best way to describe it to people within it sounding so bleak. Like he’s in another time zone?

He described it like if the two of us were in a space shuttle and had to rotate 12 hour shifts, which I think it’s a little too isolating and depressing to consider. Sober the graveyard shift.

How do you all describe Night Shift to your family and friends?