26 karma · joined February 22, 2015
There are other elephants in the room as well...
I am far less stressed from the dev shop days, but 80h/w still happens at times when projects go long and another kicks off. I travel 1-2 weeks month (sometimes 3) though that's an unavoidable fact of life no matter which path I take.
Times change, people do not
Thanks for posting, it's good to reflect from time to time.
I must admit Airbnb cannot beat the convenience and mental simplicity of business hotels. Flight cancelled, check-in at midnight, parking, need an ironing board, want to be left alone - no problem.
I typically Airbnb on travel where I expect the workload to be light or operating on reasonable hours (not coming in at 1am every night). It's really an experience thing for me (akin to going backpacking/camping) which often turn into great dinner conversation with customers - they're always amused. I've met a number of great people (I think most people can be, and Airbnb provides the venue) and I highly recommend it - just be prepared to deal with sometimes awkward/interesting situations, but such is life!
Is everyone so understanding? No. My advice is to sit down and be honest with her regarding your feelings and say this isn't the right time or place.
Everyone is discussing conceptually, here are concrete numbers... When I was striking out on my own a few years ago health insurance was "the big one" everyone brought up, so I went on Kaiser's website and got a quote from ~$250 - $450/month (varies with copay, benefits, out of pocket max). It's a bit of a cost though not nearly as scary as everyone makes it out to be and not enough to plunge you into the depths of debt if things don't work out (it's also tax deductible).