I don't necessarily agree that you can't find a paying job flying smaller aircraft. If you are lucky and get a place instructing, you can make 2000Eur per month in Europe. Of course, being in the right place at the right time and proving yourself is important. As for the US - now since they don't accept guys without 1500hrs into the airlines, I am sure that instructing, bush flying, etc positions are pretty much filled by locals having no other choice. So you could theoretically get in there, but first secure yourself a green card not expecting their help
And if you want to go to Africa, you need to go and knock the doors, + now they want you to have some hours and type ratings as well...
Have you considered business flying as well? Sure, the pay can be bad, roster tiring, but you can have some pretty fun flying to new destinations every day
And it's all about getting into the left seat - then you will be able to eat more than bread and water, for sure.
As for the airline flying - sure it can be tiring and you will work quite a bit, but then there come duty time limitations and you can find yourself with weeks of holiday, if you're lucky, with travel benefits too! I'm almost 21, will start flying commercially on next Thursday and, even though the first week's duty plan seems super busy, I can't be more excited about it.