There will be the months that you get lucky on reserve or after a number of years you can bid for turns (out and back day trips), but being gone is part of the job. Plan on spending roughly half your life in hotels and at airports. If that’s a problem, and it is for a lot of folks, rethink being a career airline pilot. That’s the downside. Lots of upside...incredible compensation, when you are off you are 100% off, no mil bs, the list goes on.
take all of these comments with a grain of salt. Lots of 1-2 year guys talking about how much better it is than AD mil. Maybe it is, I was never AD. With that said, the honeymoon phase doesn’t last forever here.