The thing is, being furloughed is not a vacation. It's great to want to do all those fun things but if you actually do get furloughed, I bet things will seem a little different than the extended party you imagined.

When I was furloughed, I had a previous flying job lined up that fell through at the last minute, which left me collecting unemployment for about a month. That was a pretty dark month for me and put a real strain on my marriage as jobs were scarce and unemployment was woefully inadequate. Luckily a very good flying job fell on my lap and things picked back up for me.

A surprisingly large percentage of guys I was furloughed with stayed on unemployment until they were recalled. Others found flying jobs or got out of aviation completely. Being furloughed was a rough time in my life and I feel very fortunate that things ended up working out for me in the end.