The 'taking the plunge' diversion that this thread has taken also interests me.
I'm 33 and play records on the radio for a living. Like flying, it's something that I always wanted to do and at my level it's well paid considering that you're only actually 'on-air' for a few hours. That said I've probably hit the glass ceiling now at 40-50k pa, there's sod all job security and the media industry is simply imploding at the moment so who the hell knows whether I'll still be earning in 3 months, let alone 3 years. Like your job, there aren't likely to be too many opportunities locally so having to up sticks and go sniff out work somewhere else is a distinct probability in my game.
I always felt that getting my finger out my arse and getting an ATPL and a nice gig flying jets would the answer to my long term prayers. Perhaps it's not that much different - I spend hours each day in front of a few LCD screens driven by a computer that does all the thinking that I used to do surrounded by lots of flashing lights and buttons, talking into a mic now and again and working with people who moan about how good it used to be!
