A view from the absentees side...
In the last twelve months, ive been to Cyprus three times and Uruguay once .....probably a total of 7 weeks in 12 months....and my wife hates it with a vengeance.
For her, the fear of a plane crash (illogical, but understandable), the never knowing if i am coming back on schedule (which i hardly ever manage to do)...and the boredom.
On the plus side, i got her to book herself across to Cyprus on the last few days of the last trip. Although i had to work normally, we had a brilliant weekend free. £380 for the airfares and extra on the hotel room.....it was worth every penny. You could spend almost that on a weekend break in London.
A friends husband is a european truck driver, who's away for 2 or 3 weeks at a time. She took 10 years to get used to it, and still doesnt like it. But....get used to it she did.
Sorry Kirstie, not very positive or helpful. I always feel a mixture of enjoyment of the job, but desperately sorry for what it does to the wife. Regular phone calls and regular contact via msn messenger help a lot.