Well, having left location B I am now in C. Again, I am loving the countryside. It may sound kinda corny, but it's really nice to see so much of the country I've grown up in! This place is so large there always seem to be new places to see.
On the job front however, things aren't looking overly promising. There are definitely a lot more pilots than there are jobs out and about. Sure, if the hiring in the larger companies goes ahead in the coming months, there may be more jobs available at the lower end of the scale, but who really knows if that's going to happen.
I have received a couple of leads through PMs, and I thank you for those. A couple are proving potentially promising (whatever that means) and others are dead ends. Some may, if anything, just get me some free flying on weekends. A wishful thought for now.
I am making a big effort of talking to operators/CPs on the phone prior to arriving in town and meeting them in person. The idea is twofold: 1 - less of a surprise to them. 2 - they might tell me to not waste their time (and my time), which makes my route planning a lot easier if I know there is no point going to certain locations.
One thing I am hearing more and more of is the time requirements. I have spoken to a few places today where their requirements are as low as 250 or 300 hours (of course I have also spoken to some who have 400 and 500 hour minimums). My point being, I feel a bit positive that there are some with hour requirements that aren't as high as I first thought they would be. Not that I'm saying getting another 100 hours is easy (nor cheap), but it's something to think about.
What I have realised in all this is the dog eat dog nature of things. I know that for me, personally, it is hard (in fact downright bad for my mental health) to not be working in something mentally stimulating. So whilst I admire pilots who will wait in a location for up to 12 months for a job, working at Coles or a servo in the mean time, I don't think it's something I can do. 10 years ago, I reckon I could. Today, I think it would really be damaging to my health. I'm sure there are others like me out there who have come from a life of working 40 stimulating hours a week. It's not easy to all of a sudden do nothing with your time. Unfortunately, I think that might bode badly for people in my shoes. But in the end, I'm pursuing this career for happiness - and there is no point becoming a mental wreck on the road to happiness now is there?