I read and can pass over most comments here, but I simply couldn't resist replying to this gem
...and travel around with the wife every once and a while to some new spots.
Maaaate, let me assure you that you're in for a
big disappointment in that department. Getting your wife on a flight just about anywhere on the EK network is damn near impossible unless you're willing to line up cap in hand for days on end - with all the other staff who are trying to do the same thing. (You may not be aware that the jump seat for the missus, even when you're the operating pilot, is simply out of the question, with no exceptions.)
And staff travel is (the?) one area that EK does respect seniority. As a new joiner, you and your wife will be in line after everyone with a start date before yours.
I have a mate who once worked as a recruiting officer in the Air Force. I remember him saying to me that all prospective recruits had one thing in common. They simply tuned out to any information he offered them that was in any way negative. When he told them the job would be disruptive to their home life etc, they simply didn't hear him.
He said thay all had one other thing in common. To a man, twelve months later, they'd be screaming that they hadn't been warned about all those things he told them about before they signed on the dotted line and took Lizzie's shilling.