Max, you're absolutely right - long haul doesn't suit everyone! I fly with one or two who should definitely move back to short haul, but there you go. Short haul is too intense for me. Time away from home is relative - I spend more time away in one go, but I get to take the kids to school and I get lunch in the pub occasionally, so I'm happy with that. The ex-wife wasn't, though... and she would have hated the short-haul lifestyle even more. So it's well worth all wannabes thinking very carefully about what this job does to family life.
As you rightly point out, short-haul is where you guys are going, at least for a few years. I know there are one or two of you who occasionally get a long-haul sector with Britannia, Monarch etc, but that is not living the long haul lifestyle!