Regarding life at a regional:
I'm a junior commuting reserve guy at a regional with what I consider pretty good work rules. We're also 'fat' on pilots* which, as far as trying to maximize QOL (not necessarily money) goes, is a wonderful thing. Financially, due to some "special items" I do alright, and don't work too terribly hard to do it—once you get over the 15-hour duty days and the whole commuting-to-reserve thing.
Previous to this, I was making MORE money flying LESS airplane LESS hours per month with arguably alright quality of life (although the lack of travel benefits was a deal-breaker for long-term staying). The job had approximately zero upgrade or career progression beyond becoming a management pilot, and while I might do okay managing pilots and certainly wouldn't mind the resulting pay override, I quit my very lucrative desk job so that I wouldn't have to fly a desk all the time. The point is, in order to move forward you will probably have to go backwards a bit. I have, in terms of my compensation—but I think my quality of life is much better (and my blood pressure correspondingly lower) these days.
I also didn't have any air conditioning packs. Which, in Allentown, PA in the summertime with record humidity, is a surprisingly nice feature...
As The Shorter of the Dougs says:
I enjoy my job, the profession is rather 'meh' at times, but when the "BS" bucket is heavier than the "Loot" bucket, I'll probably early retire and start up that Meth lab I've always been talking about.
Right now the "loot" bucket is heavier than the "BS" bucket, but we'll see about how the bankruptcy shakes out.
Loot-versus-BS is the tradeoff that you have to consider for all jobs. It's why I don't have a desk job. Loot good. BS greater than loot, though.
Here's something I've been thinking about lately:
The contract I have with my current employer will be coming to an end in September and I'll be free to leave, if I want to. By then, I'll have ~4000 TT and ~800 multi. All of it's in pistons, aside from about 35 or 40 hours of single engine turbine time (Piper Meridian).
In other words you're largely qualified for most entry-level airline jobs.
I came to my current gig because I wanted to change up my life, travel the world, have an adventure, and build my resume while I was at it. Mission accomplished. No regrets.
I'm not dying to move on, but I can't see myself staying here long-term, either.
So what should I do now, in order to have a decent life and keep building my resume? My long term goals are broad and not well-defined. I'd be willing to fly for a major airline--emphasis on *willing* to. It's not a dead set goal, but I think the upsides would outweigh the downsides. Same for an LCC. Or a really good corporate gig. Or air ambulance, depending on the operator. Or aerial firefighting. Basically, I'm trying to get in to a career sort of position, something I can last 5+ years at.
You can manage decent quality of life at a regional, but everyone suffers the first year. In a way I think that's to make sure that no non-hackers are allowed to stick around, as perverse as it is.
Thing is, I have zero interest in doing the traditional regional jet dance. I've ridden around on enough jumpseats to know even the "good" regionals aren't good enough to meet my standards for pay, QOL, and stability.
I'm also not into the turbine freight scene, either. I know a lot of people go to places like Amflight to build turbine time. Not knocking them, but I'm not willing to take such a big hit in pay and QOL in order to chase turbine time. I'm not a time builder. I'm a pilot who wants a good job in the here and now, which will lead to an even better job later. I don't want to get "dead ended" by going to something like a single engine turbine job, an Alaska job that will lead to nothing but other Alaska jobs, etc.
With all this in mind, what would you do? I have some contacts at a couple charter operators and might be able to get in with them, flying King Airs. If I go that route but decide I don't like corporate flying, will I realistically be able to go to a major, or even LCC, with the turbine time I'd have built? Or will it really only be relevant to other corporate/charter gigs? What if I stick with my airline for another year or two and try to get involved with titles outside of line flying, like being a regional chief pilot or work for the training department, even though it's all in piston twins? Would those help me get anywhere?
You basically answered your own question, since you aren't into the "traditional" RJ dance or turbopropeller/turbine freight scenes. I'd go do some charter and corporate then.
If you really want to be a major airline pilot, Delta's hiring minimums include 1,000 fixed-wing turbofan or turbopropeller time. Act accordingly.
It's funny, because so many new pilots can't wait to build time and check boxes. I've kind of drifted through my career, slowly building time and checking boxes along the way. Now, I have a long list of minimums met, yet I don't know what to do next.
I could care less about building time and checking boxes. I'm in this to be paid (well, okay, to get some money...) and to enjoy a nice, flexible lifestyle. It can be done, but believe me—I occasionally have to shovel some...unmentionable things...in order to keep the good life I have on days off.
* That's a function of who you talk to and what day of the month it is, of course...they're always short at 0403 when they call me.