Yes, it is excluding the mentioned opportunity cost because that cost is different for everyone. For me, and I am sure others the opportunity cost of not going could not have been higher. I quit my job, sold my car, ended my lease, dropped my insurance so it made those calculations a little simpler. I needed to "find myself" I guess. I'm also not factoring in the revenue gains I have received from just going through the experience. It taught me to embrace the impossible which has changed me enough to allow me to grow from an employee to an owner at the same company in a situation I never would have persisted had I not had that experience.