I have been reading here for a while and registered so I can throw a little support to Skyhigh and Directbears. I absolutely loved flying. When I was four my grandfather asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I said a pilot. I always played with those little balsa airplanes when I was a kid. I started R/C flying when I was 12 and would work summer jobs in high school to afford models. I always went outside when I heard an airplane fly over so I could see what it was. I took lessons at 15 and soloed at 16 ( or 16 and 17-too long ago to remember). All I ever dreamed about was flying, it was the love of my life. Three years after college and several careers later I went to flight school to become a professional pilot and I excelled. Not only was I doing what I loved I was damn good at it. All my examiners told me I was a natural and one of the best they had ever seen.

The reason I went through all that is because I want to establish that flying was my passion in life and all I ever wanted. This is directed to those who say money doesn't matter because you are having "fun". Flying for a living after a while is not fun. When I started it was, I was flying mapping in a single pilot environment. I flew all over the country and got to see lots of cool things. Then I started flying freight. Me against the weather, still fun but more like a job. But it was challenging and kept me on my toes. Now I am right seat in a large turboprop, and well the thrill is gone. Mostly I just struggle not to be bored to death. Low pay, horrible hours, always at the companys mercy. Tell me you are having fun at the end of a 14 hour day with a 5 am show the next day. When you get in from a rotation you are so tired you have to sleep most of your time off away. It becomes dull, boring, and repetitive, very repetitive. I can't remember the last time I got a thrill from flying.

To achieve all this I have spent the last 6 years moving across the country chasing job after job. Move for a better run, move for an upgrade, etc. I have not been in one place for more than a year. I have no life, no girlfriend, and all my current friends are friends from work, I never see my old friends. I can't afford deep attachments because I never know when I will pull up stakes and move again, it is an ever changing industry. I knew this getting in, but when I signed on there was a hope for a better future. Now I don't know what is in store, and having 31 years left in this industry I know I can't stay where I am until retirement. Maybe a different airline, maybe a different type of flying would get the joy back. To be honest though I am tired of starting over. Just keep in mind, all of you who love flying, flying for fun and flying for a living are worlds apart. Once you get close to your 30's and see all your friends with nice houses, nice cars, a wife and kids you will start wondering if living like a pauper is worth it just to fly an airplane.