Work travel with a guilt-ridden brain

Dec 101 min read

I have a conference next month (3 nights in Vegas) and I hate how this is making me feel. Logically I know my kids will be fine with my wife. But I keep catastrophizing - what if my 5yo gets sick? What if something happens at school? What if they forget I exist lol. This is my second trip this year and I can already tell my wife is tired of me being gone. The travel is kind of necessary for my role but idk if I can sustain this. Do you guys just... accept the guilt? Or did you make bigger changes?

6 comments452 views

Comments(6)

BBen D.RegularDec 10

my therapist told me guilt is often just a sign you care, not a sign something will go wrong. helped me separate the feeling from the reality

RRob K.RegularDec 11

that catastrophizing spiral is so real. logically you know your wife's got it handled but your brain just goes to the worst case scenarios

RRich B.RegularDec 11

I had to do a conference trip last year and the guilt was absolutely eating me alive. but then I realized I was also being kind of insulting to my wife by acting like she couldn't handle things without me

KKurt D.RegularDec 12

Vegas is only 3 nights. your kids will be fine. like actually fine. your wife has managed them before right?

AArchie K.RegularDec 13

Have you gone away without them before? Sometimes the first time is the hardest mentally but kids are way more resilient than we give them credit for

DDale A.RegularDec 12

Real talk: the catastrophizing gets worse the more you indulge it. Just go to the conference. your 5yo won't get sick just because you're gone. life doesn't work that way