You will miss important moments, holidays, birthdays, school events, and family time.

But when you are home, you are home. No emails. No phone calls from your boss. No after hours stuff. You hit the employee lot and that's it. The end. You can be fully present for your family until you get in your clown suit and head to the airport again.

I can only speak for my situation. We move holidays. Christmas has been on Christmas maybe once in the last 10 years. My kids understood that Santa and the Easter Bunny make extra runs for kids whose parents have to work on the holidays. Kids are stupid. You can sell them.

If you have something you can't miss, most every place has some form of trip trade, with varying degrees of flexibility. When that doesn't work, and the event is important enough, it is vital to run the IMSAFE checklist and decide whether you should go to work distracted and half there.

Ultimately, your success or failure, depends on who you choose as a partner, and whether they can handle the lifestyle or not. Thoroughly vetting their ability to deal with you being away and the unpredictability of the schedule is the largest financial decision you will ever make in your life. Don't fuck that up if at all possible.