I know that some people believe that travelling on business is really 'just a junket', however lets just look at it a little more closely.

1. If you are from Australia, the US is not just around the corner.  So really who does enjoy the process of catching a plane and the absolute boredom of sitting in a plane for 16+ hours in a very small chair with no leg room?
2. You are away from your normal connectivity.  Getting your laptop online is not so much of a technical issue these days and global roaming for your phone works, albeit expensive,  however your normal work mode is completely disrupted so you cannot expect to be as responsive to your business demands. 
3. Nobody has actually come up with a resolution for the time-zone problem.     One day ahead and 6 hours back does not leave you much room to be engaged with staff and customers. 
4. Travelling back from the US you find the two days just disappears behind that cramped little seat and that dam time-zone thing again. 
5. I miss being around my family.  Actually, in order of priority - that is No.1. 

I try to make sure I'm getting value from my investment in time and money.  If for some reason I don't feel like I'm getting value  - I'm going to stay home.

Scorecard for this trip to the US - 8.3/10  - guess that means I'll be going again!