The reason that you are getting a lot of flack is because your attitude is totally unrealistic (not your fault) and most of us have seen it 100 times before...and we know how the story ends too

Regional FO will only be great fun for a year tops. After that you will start to realize that flying more than 1-2 legs per day becomes real work (I admit that a 2 leg day with an overnight in a cool town is fun...as long as the show time is after noon the next day). Also you will start to notice that your friends have houses, vacations, SUV's, BMW's, boats, motorcycles, and spending money...while you are still driving that 1988 Civic, living with 6 other FO's in a 3 bedroom apartment near the airport and eating top ramen. You can probably afford a 12 pack of Busch once a week, assuming that you have no student loans to pay.

You may be able to be happy with an aviation career ten years down the road, but until then you will have to pay your dues. And don't forget to add extra time out for the inevitable furlough (2-4 years).

I'm not saying don't do it, but I guarantee that a "love of flying" will probably NOT make up for the hardships you have coming. Many of the folks I fly with would have been better off going to dental school and buying an airplane to fly on weekends.