The advice to travel is also very good. Once you start in the industry it's hard to take a year off. It's all about currency.
This is one of the best & most important points in this thread. Once you get into it, currency is extremely important. It will keep you flying in less than ideal (or worse) jobs just to be able to tell your next prospective employer you have done 3 takeoff and landings in the last 90 days. Taking time off also gets expensive as someone has to pay to get your ratings current again before you get flying.
This also applies to your training, as if you aren't flying a couple of times a week you won't progress as quickly, and as mentioned above, with bad weather one weekend you may get a bit rusty and before you know it you're paying to repeat the lesson.
I think some great advice has been given above. Do a TIF if you haven't already, and find a cheaper alternative - gliding, RC aircraft - to keep you interested for a year or so. Start your training only when you have the time and money to do it full time or as close to as you can.
I know what it's like to have people tell you to do something else and fly as a hobby, it happened to me as it did many others here. I also know I was never going to listen to them, and I'm glad I didn't. If you have no interest in that other job, you will always wonder "what if". The thing is you have to be prepared to roll with it, take what comes, maybe vote with your feet and move to another job, possibly overseas or somewhere you hadn't seen yourself going, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing! Also helps to have an understanding partner....
You are right that you're lucky to know what you want to do, so many people have no idea, but don't wish your life away looking forward to the next thing. Why not go out and party, make some mistakes, grab life by the balls. It's all about balance, and as fun as aviation is, there is a hell of a lot more to life.