BUT My good friend's husband has traveled a lot --when her 3 kids were small he traveled a lot--and she worked not FT but 3/5 her mom babysat the kids and lived close ( her mom was a widow so offered lots of her time)--anyway her dh got a promotion and then only traveled maybe 2 or 3 short trips a year ( if that!)
so company was bought out--he is back to traveling--her kids are older ( oldest in college ) She is happy that is is back traveling for a few reasons
Frequent flyer miles--she grumbled when they were gone and she had to *gasp* drive to their vacation spots
Hotel points--see above--LOL
american express points--he had a company charge before and had to charge all expenses --booking his own flights hotels etc..--she got to spend those points--Nice to get restaurant cards for above vacations--LOL
I have not read previous posts so hope I am not duplicating. My DH and I used to both travel extensively prior to our children - so in the last couple of years. Here were our pros and cons:
Pros:
Saved money on things like the vehicle and gas
Racked up lots of frequent flier and hotel points to use then personally
Cons:
Delays, delays, delays. Travel nowadays is so much more stressful if going by airplane. Perhaps your DH is not going to be doing much air travel - but if so - that was hard. We would cut into our personal time because had to fly out on Sunday for a Monday meeting and then inevitably coming home the flights were delayed.
Health - eating on the road is not as healthy as eating at home. If DH can be diligent about eating right and avoiding lots of fast food because he is alone he will be okay. Also - he should plan from the first trip on of using the fitness equipment in the hotels so that he stays in shape. It is easy to gain quickly on the road.
Homesickness - my DH had this much more than me. He is a homebody so being away, eating alone, etc got really old for him very quickly. I like a lot of personal alone time so I did better than him in that regard
Unexpected expenses - even though you get to expense a lot - we found we would spend on the little things - a bottle of water here, a pop there and they really added up. We didn't bother to expense those little things but should of - they really did add up.
There are definitely pros and cons to any job and any situation. You and him would be smart to each write a list and sit down and talk about them. Also - depending on your children's ages this might be super hard on them if they are used to dad being home.
"Those times that he travels he would be paid from the time he leaves until he gets home. (OVERTIME BIG TIME!) The new company is huge in comparison but DH finds it difficult to think of leaving his current company, but with my SD starting at NIU this fall, the extra money will definately come in handy since we plan to take out no loans for college."
Okay...just read through the other posts and wanted to add one thing:
Personally - I would make sure he got that in writing - because we never found that to be the case when DH or I traveled. Once in a while if we had a delay and got home at 2 or 3 am our employer would say you can work from home or take a half day - but that was only once in a while. With the way the economy is and all - paying all that overtime might be something they say now but could change. Just trying to make sure that he protects himself and has the specifics in writing.
My DH got a new job on September 1st within the same company he has been with for 20 years. He has been traveling to local states like Minnesota or overseas to Germany, Ireland and now he is in Moscow. My kids are older (DD17 amd DS12) but it would be difficult if my DD didnt have a car and drive. She helps picking up my DS from school and getting him to his soccer practice (indoor now).
When he gets home, he is exhausted. He just wants to sleep.
DD looks forward to him being gone so she can stay out later and even have hookah parties in the garage. DS looks forward to blackmailing her with that info.
I could not imagine him being gone if my children were younger. Right now, I welcome the little break when he is gone. But the homecoming is always sweet. I made a big dinner and the kids make him feel missed.
This morning he was texting me at 4am and sent pictures over standing in Red Square. Pretty cool, imo. How many people have opportunities like this to travel first/business class and visit some of the most beautiful historic places on earth? But I can see him getting tired of this traveling in a few years.
Interesting coincidence as my DH is out of town for the next two weeks straight to Florida (Orlando area) to oversee the upgrade of a communications system for several police departments. He typically does not travel at all so this is interesting and exciting for him. And of course the weather is lovely.... He may need to travel to Tel Aviv or Poland next year, but not for this long. And he gets to visit his parents on the weekends while in Florida so win win for him.
My husband is an engineer so not physical labor and keeps routine hours when not out of town. We miss him but we Skype with him every night and he is on email and the phone all the time with us. I am not sure how you all do it with husband's who work long hours or night shifts etc. I commend you for not losing your minds.
I have a friend who took a job in California but lives HERE. She leaves every Sunday and returns every Thursday. It is a great career move for her but frankly, it sucks for her family and I know I would hate it. Not a life I would want.
My DH travels here and there, not much. But when he does travel he works REALLY long hours. Like they bring in the food to his office. He doesn't get to see any of the area he is in besides the airport, his hotel room and the office. Although he's not dealing with our 4 kids and me, he is working ALL the time.
My kids are older, so it's not a big deal, but if I had little kids I couldn't take it. I have NO help in the area. There are a few friends I could call if I was TOTALLY desperate, but other than that, I'm on my own.
If your DH is going to be gone for weeks at a time, I would make sure I had some help lined up in case of a conflict like where you are supposed to be two places at the same time.
