Al Murdoch said it so well.
I have to agree with everything you said.
From my side of the world, Africa things are interesting and challenging in their own way. The current operator I'm working for has lots of bad rep. However they always pay on time, I've never had a problem asking for leave, the crew are all great to work with and that adds a great deal to the job satisfaction.
Salary is never enough is it? However we are compensated by not working much at all. In fact we are almost guaranteed to have every weekend off
Flarepilot your closing line is excellent! I could also have done much much worse.
Overall I'm am happy where I am.