You simply can't avoid the Tiger Woods media flurry right now, whether you're on FaceBook, watching CNN, standing at the office coffee bar or listening to the radio on your way to run errands. Everyone is talking about him, his family, his alleged indiscretions ... what a debacle!
As a professional athlete, he's away from his family for the majority of the year for work. Granted, his wife goes to many of his tournaments but he's working, not just hanging around with her. If you've ever watched Tiger play in a tournament, he is completely focused on getting the job done - I'm going to take a calculated guess and say that during his round, he's not chatting it up with Elin about the kids or where they should go for dinner.
Let's be honest. It's really hard to maintain a relationship when you don't actually see the other person. Now, I'm not talking about Tiger anymore - I'm talking about anyone who travels for work on a regular basis.
My husband's travel is very manageable but there are certainly times when I feel like I'm a one-woman show. I'm home with the kids, I make all of the daily decisions without "checking in" with anyone else and I get to spend my free time however I'd like - which for me as a Mom of two little ones means that I'm having a glass of wine and getting to bed at a ridiculously early time. Pretty tame.
My husband, on the other hand, has great dinners out with his co-workers and sometimes they'll go to a bar for a drink afterwards if it's an over-night trip. Luckily, I trust him 100% when he's away and I actually look forward to the over-nighters to have some time to unwind, chat with my friends or get stuff done without worrying about having to stop to figure out what's for dinner.
Also simplifying things, when he does have to travel, the DH will get up around 3:00am to get ready and head to the airport, just to return back home to me late that night because he doesn't like to be away if he doesn't have to be. I know that's not always possible and sometimes, it's simply easier just to stay overnight but he always makes the effort to be home.
On the other hand, I used to work with a woman who would actually embellish the length of her business trips to her husband and daughter and she'd tack on a day or two to her trip, so that she'd have a little downtime for herself - just to recoup from the rigor of being a full-time working-mom.
Where do you fall in this? Do you view business travel as a "break" or do you dread that next flight? How do you manage your personal relationships if you're often away from home?
For us, it means sending little videos of the kids to their Daddy, chatting for a few minutes here and there when we can throughout the day and connecting every night once the kids are in bed and before his work dinners. Email is a God-send and between the BlackBerries and the iTouches of the world, we're always able to get a hold of one another in an emergency.
Of course, none of that can compare to connecting in real-time, real-life ...
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