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Old 10th Aug 2010, 04:29
  #23 (permalink)  
Hot High Heavy
 
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I have to agree with you Homesick Angel. I did the 10 years in an office job thing, earning great cash, living a good life in inner Melbourne in a nice house with a nice car and nothing really to worry about except where to go out for dinner. Working crazy hours sucked but the cash kinda made it worth it. I turned 30 though and had a 'quarter life crisis' and wondered if there was anything else to life apart from this. I'd got a PPL in 1995 but never kept it current due to the cost but always thought about it and wondered if one day i could get back into it.

I decided to go for it and sold the house to pay for the lessons, changed to a less demanding job and went all out to get the CPL. The life completely turned around but it seemed worth it. At the start of this year i sold all my belongings, bought a cheap car, broke up with the missus and moved to the NT. I was lucky enough to pick up a charter job with an operator fairly quickly. I'm just getting by from week to week and working pretty hard but it has actually energised me after being stagnant for so long. There's no better feeling than being paid to fly after throwing so much cash into it during training. I'm 33 now and wish i'd done it earlier as there are lots of young guys that are so much further ahead but it is what it is.

I've got a long way to go and have no idea where ill end up or what ill be doing. That said, despite all that has been given up its still been worth it and if at the end of the day it stops being fun, i can always head south and drive a desk again. Its better to have a crack though than die wondering (wow that was very 'zen'!).

I think the theme along here is that we all have this addiction to our profession that most outsiders just don't understand!

HHH
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