Originally Posted by
sealear
Now just counting down until the money bucket is full and I'll be back in my home country. Like another poster said, just passing the time now... PPC to PPC, nodding my head but inside couldn't care less. Sad reality but that's what it is now.
Whilst the industry has slipped from what it once was, it’s not as bad as EK would have you believe. There is life outside of long-haul and the Middle East if you can mentally overcome the loss of that ‘perceived status’ that long-term EK employees have (and I mean that in a positive sense - you’re status as a respected long-haul wodebody skipper has been hard-earned).
But your post demonstrates a good point. There’s basically nothing that can be done about EK or the industry, but you do have a choice - you stay and keep putting away what money you have to leave the industry earlier, at the expense of maintaining a happy life/family until that point. Or you can do what many have done and sacrifice the bigger pay-packet and earlier retirement with the benefit of enjoying lifestyle more in the present. That’s what myself and many others have now done. I don’t live so salubriously but I have a pleasant work-life balance and I love going to work flying again. I just have to work longer until retirement and live more modestly. Personally I’ve got no regrets, but it doesn’t work for everybody.
I guess it all depends on which bucket is more important to you. Money vs Less S**t. Think about it long and hard and work out what you will regret less in the future.