I fell into it due to a furlough and found I loved the flying, people, 747, but hated the schedule( so did wife/ daughter), when my recall came I took it, but will always be grateful for my time with my fellow air pirates , the world tour from HK to Bagram, and the sheer joy of flying the Boeing. It just wasn't viable for my familia long term, but I still smile whenever I see a 747 : )

I generally work anywhere from 20/10 to 9/6.
I can tell you that 20 days does indeed feel like an eternity away. I've come home and missed all the leaves changing color...
By day 16 I'm not the happiest guy to be around. Follow that with 10 days off and you barely have enough time to acclimate and get yourself "unjetlagged".

I do everything I can to work my schedule to be home more and/or fewer long stretches away. I'm not always successful.

Cargo Scheduling
 

Cargo schedules are in NO way similar to the passenger carriers.
Flying on the back side of the clock incessantly is one of the hallmarks of cargo flying albeit there does exist some daytime flying.
As in any carrier flying, Seniority is the only thing that will keep you from the most ugly of the ugly flying, it might even afford you some daytime flying. There are no flight attendants to serve your meal and coffee, you are able to avoid the TSA nazi folks at the airline terminals unless you find your self catching a jumpseat over there or having to take a scheduled deadhead, but in the end you are a freight dog and worthy only of the beating and terse application of policy and procedure that exists for the sake of your company ...............