Don't know about anyone else, but I would not fly for work at all at this point in my life, unless I needed the money. While I will never regret anything in my aviation career (which is damn long by now lol) and probably would not change much, and would have never wanted to do anything else except fly for a living, you do get to a point where the "work" part of it does start to grind on you. I still very much enjoy most of it, don't get me wrong, but there are those days/weeks that you just begin to wonder. I am hoping to mostly (not completely - depends on what/how I decide to do and I have some other options so I will just play it by ear and decide more when the time comes) retire in a few years.
If I did not to have to "work", I would continue to fly but it would be entirely for fun/pleasure and for charity missions, to attend some air shows, to mentor with the Young Eagles and perhaps give a few lessons here and there to young kids, etc., and not for anything work related. I can't imagine why anyone would want to work if they didn't need the income. But maybe that is because I have worked since I was a teenager pretty much non stop. And also there is the issue in an industry where many pilots are not really compensated fairly and it takes many years now to climb that ladder, well hell....let others who are just starting out or in the middle of their careers work and earn the paycheck that they deserve and need.
I could always find plenty of other things to do besides working, that would be fulfilling and make me happy. Spending more time with family is always a priority and having more time for charity work is also important. And I have my Alaska dream trip/adventure that I am looking forward to when I do mostly retire in a couple of years.
I am looking forward to a time where I can sleep as late as I want, any day that I want and then my biggest decision/responsibility is trying to decide if I want to call up some friends and hit some waves or take the dogs and my wife down to the beach for breakfast.
