How I did it! How you can do it!

[portsharbourflyer]

Poose,

Sometimes some-things in life are not planned; my first child was not planned. Had I stayed in my first turboprop job I can guarantee I would have been divorced by now; I did full time instructing before the commitments arrived in life. In-fact that was my error, trying to do the instructor-turbo prop route because the low pay associated with that route is what made it unsustainable. Had I funded a jet type rating just after training then the chances are
by the time commitments arrived in life I would have been making a decent income so could have stayed flying. I have remained part time instructing and still normally get a couple of interviews each year but most rarely offer something that is sustainable.

I have travelled to Asia for interviews, I could go on, so don't think I haven't sacrificed things in life. I would have been on the property ladder ten years earlier had I not done the fATPL, so please don't insinuate that I haven't made sacrifices.
Also I wasn't prepared to see my wife and daughter live the early years in some dingy town centre flat (which the rent alone was over 50% of my FO take home pay) where a lot of the other flats were occupied by DHSS types while I was stuck down route.

A320baby, please could you explain how you juggled a child with all this, you mentioned you lived at home while doing the training? And you were in Poland for four years?

Did your partner and the son live with you in Poland? Again not all of us have partners that are understanding and are prepared to follow where the flying work is.

So the overall message here is funding a jet rating would have been the better route than FI-turboprop. In summary all your post reads as is, I lived at home to save money and got a job by funding an A320 rating; there is a lot of credibility what you have achieved but it is also far from the most onerous route that many have taken into aviation.