Originally Posted by
TOGALOCK
Always, always, always do what’s best for your family, not yourself. It’s part of being a husband and a father. If that means commuting for the remainder of your career, then that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
If you can make both goals (best for your family AND live in base) align, then you've won the lottery!
Also, remember that living in base as a new hire FO may not mean living in base later in your career depending on your other goals (upgrade, widebody, etc.).
Where do you have the most family and family support around? Where are your friends? Where are your kids’ friends? How are the schools? Would moving to live in base mean your entire family starting their lives over? All questions to ask.
It wouldn't even be a question if my wife wasn't open to it or it meant a worse QOL for my family. For the sake of framing this question, let's just say the last paragraph is not a factor whether we stay or move.
Under normal times, I wouldn't have had a meteoric rise in seniority the first 2 years at a legacy and the median price and interest rate of a home wouldn't have doubled, but here we are!
The QWL comparison is somewhat tricky to balance, seeing as how I'd have to credit more to be financially comfortable but I'd also have more schedule flexibility. Right now I'm a min credit kinda guy spending more time at home commuting than I ever did living in base for my previous carrier.