You did what you had to do. Wise on your part to make something of yourself before committing to the pilot profession.

Great responses all. Really appreciated. Sounds like I could consider myself fortunate to drive the 2 hours to base. Seems like it would get old quick if I was doing it every night though. If the base closed, I think that would be extent of my 121 career.

Yes...all the above.

When a flight attendant, I commuted between DTW/FNT and ORD. There was a combination of mainline and regional. Sometimes, I had to leave from one city and return to the other. The biggest problem was this interfered with my ex-wife's extra-curricular activities. That also brings up the question of family support. Is that an issue?

When at Comair, I commuted between DFW and CVG since my wife was pregnant with our second daughter. Between DL and AA, there were seven daily flights. A two-leg commute through IND, ORD or BNA wasn't out of the question. I did that a few times each direction.

At TransStates, the commute wasn't bad out of DAY/CVG to IAD. But, UAL controlled the schedule and in the winter of 2014-2015, that became quite challenging. What was 3-4 flights daily went from 0-4 daily and sometimes flights cancelled between the time I left home and the airport...a one-hour drive. That happened more than once. I held a captain bid for ORD, but the PSA opportunity came up and, based upon the commuting experience between DTW/FNT-ORD, I just didn't want to do that again.

Flightsoffusion, many airlines have a two-hour reserve callout so your two-hour drive shouldn't be a factor. Good luck!

Good plan. But it can depend on the carrier A&R policy.

I'm doing the mid-life change at 40. Loving it.

This Career CAN be good IF you live in Domicile and your Domicile and your Airline don't go TU (highly unlikely, but possible).
Best thing is to just accept the fact that its going to be like the Military and you are, in all likelihood, going to have to move at some point, or like me, a whole bunch of times. I've had 3 Domiciles shut down on me, but I consider myself lucky that my Regional hasn't closed the doors... yet. It really is just a friggen crap shoot in this Career & Industry- some do alright and manage to stay married and have a good life and a lot don't. I say try it for a couple of years and see if it's for you. If it is, great...if not, get the hell out at 2 years or less because otherwise you will get sucked into a Black Hole. You might "go native" and end up all the way up the river, like Colonel Kurtz.

Do most so-called "hobbyists" stay at the regionals, or move on? If money is not a factor, I wonder whether very senior schedules control those decisions.

BUT, unlike the military, you have no job security, no pension, no lateral mobility. Of course, you don't get shot at either; but most of the military is in that category. Moving is not really an option, unless you are single or your spouse has some extremely portable career. i can't think of one offhand. Every career takes time to build.

Well I can't speak for everyone but clearly QOL outweighs money for me but having said that I still want to be paid well. I wish it was possible to just do this on a part time basis, 1 or 2 trips per month.

What is your current schedule that allows you to accommodate your outside projects?