Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Should you continue? Tough question that only you can answer.
At your age I envisioned all sorts of military adventures for myself, with little regard for spouse/family. I lived that life, and my girlfriends wisely moved on until I got all of that out of my system.
The thing about aviation is that young folks often sign up for the adventure without fully realizing the long-term lifestyle and family ramifications. Count yourself fortunate that you're wise enough to consider that now. Your first chold will probably be a game-changer as far as your attitudes about being away from home.
But I wouldn't make major career decisions at your age for one girl unless you are certain the she is THE ONE. At this point do what you want to do, then find a partner who is compatible with that. Otherwise you're setting yourself up for heartache.
But if you think you want to be home most nights NOW, aviation (at least turbine-powered) is probably not best for you.
Adventure is fun, and I do love to travel. I was one of those kids that anytime we went on a family trip—I wanted to window seat. Flying has always been my favorite way of traveling and when I was able to get money to actually do it, well, it was a dream come true.
Without boring everyone with details: I’ve grown up fast. (Mom died when I was 16, I was nearly paralyzed at 14, moved out on my own at 17…etc) so I’ve learned to kinda’ take big decisions like this into consideration. I realize my initial post made it seem like it was for one girl. Do I think she’s the one? Maybe. I hope. But that’s not my concern really. My concern is when I DO have a family/kids—it it with her, or Jane Smith I meet in five years—I want to be able to be there. (Which I think may come from a mother’s death so young and living on my own and spending all my holidays alone for the past decade…I’d love a family…but I digress.)
If I could get into a career where I could, for the most part (I wanna make sure that’s emphasizes—lol) fly locally, it’d be a dream come true. But it seems like aviation jobs that can have you gone only for two or three days aren’t very common. I mean, as a paramedic I work 24 hour shifts and stuff. So occasionally that’s fine. But as a medic I still get a decent amount of time to be home and, well, have a life. I fear aviation might completely take that away. Are there non-turbine based fields you could suggest I look into? I’ve already considered Air Ambulance pilot—but I need to learn more about that field. There’s also a CFI, of course, but I’ve been told that is not a place to go to make money. (Every CFI I’ve known has had to have tow jobs just to get by.) I, as of right now, live in the Midwest. (Metro-detroit area. Closer to Ann arbor) but I’m not sure if this is going to be my permanent place of residence. If there are any other aviation jobs you can suggest for me to read up more on, I would greatly appreciate it.