Of course anyone can get away for three months. I, however, simply don't want to leave my family for that long. I completely understand that some, perhaps man

Of course anyone can get away for three months. I, however, simply don't want to leave my family for that long. I completely understand that some, perhaps many/most people, wouldn't give it a second thought. But that is just not how I choose to live my life at this point in time. I think it is a very personal question. Also, I don't see why it is so black or white. A couple nights a week is more on the line for me, and that still seems like a significant amount of face-to-face time. When you add to that online community tools (which I presume exist), I would guess a dedicated person could go along way into complete integration into the group.