I'm in a similar boat as of last week I made $66k so this first yr had I stayed I'd be at $70K. I was not very happy in my work and didn't find it rewarding besides the money. Now I had all my ratings when I started minues the CFI; I bought a plane and enjoyed taking trips with it in addition to using it for instrument currency. The ride has been fun and now I head off to school in less than a week for a small regional. One big negative though is the pay cut; talking $50k gone a year with really no idea when I'll see a $70k salary again. 10 years if I'm lucky? I love to fly; so I'm just going to get this bug out of my system while I can and if need be bail out and get a more stable job.