Figured I'd leave something on here on what it is like to be married and have lots of overhead and still do this job.
Pros:
Besides the usual, "You get to fly" stuff:
It is nice to leave home from time to time. My wife cleans the house while I am gone, shops, etc. Usually, when I get home from a trip, most of the household logistics are done such that I can just relax and enjoy my time off. When I worked a desk job, it just felt like logistics (dishes, cooking, dogs, etc) consumed my life.
Another pro is that even though the pay sucks, it is sort of satisfying to print my pairing out and figure out how much I am going to make on a trip. I'll tell my wife that I'll be gone for 4 days and will come back $600 wealthier (I am an F/O). And in a way, the whole 4 day feels like 1 day at work with a regular job. Its just longer.
Another benefit is that I have sort of made it my goal to spend the entire four day benefiting myself in someway. Clearly, when I am working, I am logging hours and getting paid, but when I am in the hotel, I try to use the gyms, read something interesting, etc. Wasted time (esp when not with my family) is a challenge to deal with.
Cons:
I commute.
As a commuter, sometimes I have back to back trips, so will occasionally go 6 or 7 days away from home. My wife works M-F, so if I cannot get weekends off, then we don't see each other too often.
Radiation concerns me, honestly. Overall increase in health risk certainly concerns me. Waking up at 4am in the morning and looking forward to freezing my butt of in ORD weather or treking through the snow, etc sucks sometimes.
And, again, as a commuter, I usually dread day 4. I am excited to go home, but the risk of a junior, mechanical delay, full flights home, etc weighs on my mind the entire day.
Most of my problems are related to commuting, I must admit.
Additionally, at my airline, we are treated like ditch diggers. There is very little professional regards that are common courtesy in other professions. The memos we get, the lack of notice we get regarding displacements, furloughs, etc.