Thanks for all the info -- it really helps. I am now confident that I can enjoy my trip and not get out of control, and that I WILL go right back on the plan when I get home.
In other news, yet again . . .
Remember that job offer I turned down?
Yesterday I got a phone call from the person who most wants me to be there -- she's the senior partner I'd be working primarily with and for. I really like this woman; we are similar in many ways and we hit it off very well. She had left for a trip to Southeast Asia for four weeks, and only just learned on Monday that I had turned the job down.
She called to ask why I had turned it down. I explained (1) commute (2) extra hours (3) money.
She replied that I could work from home two or three days a week if I wanted. She also asked if she went to bat for me to get me what would be a 25% raise instead of an 11% one, would I come. She explained that she didn't want to expend "political capital" to do it if it wouldn't make it happen, and that she couldn't guarantee it, but she thought she'd have a good shot at it.
(She also said she'd brought me back some lovely fabrics from her trip. Now how cool would it be to have this lady for a boss??)
So I called her today and left a voice mail message that said that if she could do it, I would do it. She called me back in ten minutes asking when I could start.
So I start on May 2. And this time, I feel really good about this decision.