The strip features Sam and Sandy Szwyk, typical parents juggling careers and child care. Sam and Sandy find it hard enough to make sure Karen and Timmy are where they need to be when they need to be there (not to mention appropriately dressed); when you factor in their business travel schedules, you've got barely managed chaos. That's why love, respect and a got-your-back support system are the trinity behind Sam and Sandy's relationship. It's what they depend upon at home and away.

It's no surprise that the strip is based on the cartoonist's own experiences. "Home and Away is a window into my wife's and my life," explains Sicula. "For the last 12 years we've had to juggle travel schedules with everything else that goes on when raising a family. Our friends would ask us how we were able to do it. Just like everything else, we just adapted. Some would call it 'mutated,' but I prefer 'adapted.'"