It was the early hours of Monday morning when Stuart Lancaster found himself trudging through the arrivals hall at Dublin Airport once again.
Another delayed flight, another late finish followed by an early start, but these are small sacrifices as far as the Englishman is concerned.
"I was thinking to myself, 'I must have done this 140, 150 times a year for six years'," he said.
"Never once was I resentful about getting on a plane or standing there thinking, 'why am I doing this?', because I was just bouncing in there ready to go again."
After six successful years with Leinster, Lancaster is moving onto pastures new at the end of the season, taking over as director of rugby at Parisian powerhouse Racing 92 on a four-year contract.
During his time with the province he has watched players develop from young academy prospects into Ireland internationals, and that helped convince him the time was right to take on a fresh challenge.
Bernard Jackman and Fiona Coghlan hailed Lancaster's impact at Leinster but said he will be disappointed if he departs with only one Champions Cup success
"It was very difficult to tell the players," said Lancaster. "They obviously mean so much to me, as does Leinster. To actually say that I'm going to leave at the end of the season, it was tough.
"I thought about it for a long time and I think the time is right. The players are in a good place. The time we've spent together over the last six years, they've evolved from young men into fully-fledged internationals. I'm confident Leinster are in a strong place moving forward.
"That said, I still want to finish well this season.
"It's quite unique for a decision to be made this early in the season. Credit to Racing for being proactive in the evolution of their management teams. Laurent Travers is going to become the president and that opened up the opportunity for the head coaching position.
"I did some consultancy for them in 2016 and I wonder whether that stuck in their minds a little bit. Whichever way it happened, it's a difficult decision but I'm pleased it's out in the public domain."
Lancaster has won four league titles and a Champions Cup during his six seasons as senior coach, but silverware is not what first comes to mind when he reflects on his legacy in Leinster.
"People often judge success by trophies and win-loss ratios, and that obviously has a part to play, but it's the bringing the players through the environment and developing them into the best version of themselves, the best players they can be.
"Obviously I love the games and the changing-room feeling after a game, but bringing players through and passing on what I've learnt, I find that really rewarding.
"I've had some great coach development sessions. They're all bits of the jigsaw that make it hard to leave, because you know you've contributed, and you want to contribute more."
Lancaster revealed he had declined approaches from clubs in the past but said it was the similarities between Racing 92 and Leinster that sealed the deal.
"Jacky Lorenzetti [Racing's billionaire owner] is a very impressive but also a very good family man," he said. "I got a very good feel about the club, a very Leinster-type feel about the values, which is really important for me.
"The challenge of going coaching in the Top 14, playing in the big stadiums in France away from home, and obviously La Défense Arena is some stadium, coaching a new group of players and challenging myself to get my philosophy across in a foreign language - the growth that will give me as a coach is a part to play as well.
"I'm 52 now. Let's say I do four years there, 56. I'd still love to do other things beyond that as well. It opens up opportunities, maybe in the southern hemisphere or possibly back in Ireland. Who knows?"
Lancaster hopes that by announcing his departure so early in the season, it will provide Leinster will plenty of time to recruit his successor.
And he is more than willing to help with that search if called upon.
"I'm not sure how it'll be play out," he said. "The good thing is Leinster have got a lot of time to decide on that.
"I'm happy to help obviously, the players more so than me would be important to liaise with because they know what they need.
"They're such a good group now, they could probably lead themselves, which I guess is a good reflection of the organisation we have.
"They should be involved and if I can help in any way I definitely will. I've got a reasonably good knowledge of the people out there and what's needed."
