I lived in a Hampton Inn in Cary, NC for t wo and a hallf years while on a site investigation project. I came home every ten days or so. My wife had a small business and we had no kids. I think it did do some long term harm, though hard to put a finger on it. I just think it made it a little too easy to leave home for a couple of weeks. She'd come in the bedroom and see me packing, and ask "Where ya goin'?" and I'd reply, "Raleigh, for ten days." Then she'd say" OK see you when you get back", then a peck on the cheek and off to the post office or some such. I did leave for the airport many times with a tightness in my throat because 1. I didn't really want to go. and 2. I really didn't have a choice. I still travel, though not as regularly as Cary, it seems to be for longer trips and with open ended return dates as well as to places like Brazil and Estonia and Canada. Now that I have two little ones, (5 and 8) I leave home nearly in tears half the time. I start getting uptight a couple of days prior to leaving, though I try not to show it so it won't upset the kids too much. They know I'll always have to travel. because that's just what Dad does. They also know it's partly because I have limited education and jobs that pay as well yet allow me to not travel aren't generally available to me. I have explained to my daughter (8) that in order to have choices later in life such as a career that allows her to not travel if she wishes, she has to have lots of education.
