Representing your country at a World Cup is just about the greatest honour any rugby player can have.
It's the culmination of years of hard work and the pinnacle of most players' careers - but it can also take its toll and not just due to the physical demand of training and playing at the highest level.
This year's tournament may not kick off until September 8, but for players and staff, the campaign begins months earlier.
READ MORE: Early starts, gruelling sessions and cable cars: Inside Wales' Switzerland World Cup training camp
Some of Wales' training squad met up for the first time at the end of May for a five-week mini-camp, before the whole squad came together at the end of June to start the hard work together.
They're currently in their second and final week in the Swiss Alps, where they are undertaking crucial altitude training before heading to a second camp in Turkey. Then there are warm-up games against England and South Africa to contend with, before the final squad spend two months away from home at the tournament, which wraps up on October 28.
Even if Warren Gatland's side were to be knocked out in the pool stages, their departure would still come around five and a half months after those first players assembled at the Vale. It's a fair old slog, to say the least.
When you take into account the two training camps, the Test weeks and the tournament itself, players are looking at up to 12 weeks away from home.
Such a long time away can be difficult whatever your personal situation, but for some Welsh players the experience is set to be even harder with their little ones waiting for them back at home.
20 members of Gatland's squad are fathers to young children, with Adam Beard, Dan Lydiate and Ryan Elias also expecting to welcome new additions to their family over the coming months. Then there's the likes of Taulupe Faletau and Kieran Hardy, whose young families have grown larger since Wales' preparations got underway earlier this year.
To be away from them at such an important time is a big sacrifice for players to make and, for some, it is not an experience they are willing to put themselves through. While Justin Tipuric's decision to step away from international duty ahead of the World Cup was partially informed by injury concerns, being able to spend more time with those close to him was also a major factor.
But for Hardy, whose wife Ellie gave birth to their second daughter Noa in May, the tough times are worth enduring, knowing that his family back home is behind him all the way.
"There is a sacrifice, it is difficult being away from them, particularly in this stage because it's quite early on," he said during the training camp in Fiesch. "But the sacrifices will be worth it, hopefully. I'm in contact with them quite a bit.
"They've always supported me and my wife has always been great and backed me all the way. They've given me the chance that I get to come out here and do what I want to do, so I've been lucky."
Luckily for players like Hardy, family is very much a priority for Gatland and his coaching staff, with a WhatsApp group being set up by his wife Trudi to make sure squad members' partners are happy and looked after during the campaign, just as she did four years ago.
Speaking at a special family day ahead of their their trip to Switzerland, she said: "I've spent most of the day on my phone and putting you all in to the WhatsApp group so that we've got a way of being in touch with each other. That WhatsApp group is for us to keep connected.
"Anything you need, WhatsApp me, I'll tell Warren to sort it!"
And her husband, who is now taking his fifth group of players to a World Cup, has always put family first. Faletau, for example, joined up late with his teammates in Switzerland having helped look after his newborn son, while ahead of Wales' Six Nations game against France earlier this year, Ken Owens was allowed to fly back for the birth of his second child before returning to captain the side.
Even on Lions duty, Gatland ensured that Josh Adams was able to watch his partner Georgia give birth via Zoom while away on the 2021 tour in South Africa.
"Family stuff is incredibly important," the Wales boss said at the family day. "We've got to get that balance right between the work we do here, the hard work, but also your family comes first and it's always been a big part of that for us."
"The big thing in terms of us is making sure that we want to look after the families, partners, kids. If we can get that right, then we can go some way in to getting other things right."
