My current job takes me away from home about once a month, sometimes twice. It’s always to one of the same two places—to meet with the rest of my team in New York, or to political events in Washington, D.C.—so my youngest kids can easily understand where I am when I’m away, and why.

That doesn’t mean that they like my absences, though. My husband holds down the fort without a hitch (though more pizzas are ordered when I’m gone than when I’m home, oddly enough), but he has his own career, complete with a long commute, to juggle. So I find myself trying to minimize my trip, squeezing two days worth of work into a single day in order to avoid being away overnight.

It’s an easy path to exhaustion. On my trip this week, an overnight was unavoidable, but instead of indulging in some “me time” or sleeping in the next morning there I was, working until midnight after a day full of high-pressure meetings, and up early the next day to get a little more work in before heading back to the airport.

Working moms who have to travel for business, share your experiences with me: Do you make the most of your time away? Or do you minimize it because you are worried (or feel guilty) about being away from your family responsibilities?