The sum of its parts

In 20 days I'll be en route to Antigua, Guatemala for the first leg of my 4-month trek around the world (should have been 18 days from now, but I delayed my trip by 48 hours so I could fit in one more trip to Tahoe).

I'm incredibly excited about the prospect of immersing myself in the various local cultures, meeting other travelers and locals, eating off street carts, meeting up with friends in various places around the world, getting some quality solo time, and not having to think about deal launchings or closings or proxy statements or prospectuses or 10-Ks or 10-Qs and instead thinking about Spanish, scuba diving, hiking, volcano-climbing, surfing, white water rafting, French, eating, museum-hopping, shopping, sunbathing, holy-site visiting, etc. for an entire 4 months.

But I'm also a bit sad knowing that I will miss out on the day-to-day stuff that goes on at home for an entire 4 months. I'll be missing two weddings. It's entirely possible that one or more friends might get engaged while I'm gone. I'll miss out on the gossip, flings, romances, shopping, dinners, happy hours, brunches and random ranting/raving sessions with friends that make my life in SF so happy and full. How do you measure the happiness that good conversation with good friends over good food brings to your life? It's the sum of all the tiny moments you share with someone that builds a relationship and it makes me sad to know that I'll miss out on 4 months (or 120 days, or 2880 hours, or 172,800 minutes) of each of my friend's lives while I'm gone.

Dude. I'm impossible to please. I want my trip, but I don't want to miss out on anything at home. I'm so damn greedy.