Concur on CFI. Continually teaching others is a great way to maintain your skillset and even improve it. If you fly a C152 for 5,000 hours you'll learn less than you will teaching for a couple hundred hours. I just talked to a pilot recruiter the other day and they don't really value the hours guys build towing banners or punching holes in the sky just to log time. Additionally, when you fly by yourself as you progress and you haven't ever gone through a well developed training program, it's easier to develop poor habits. Good luck!