If you have traveled and understand what can happen. If you have no issue going town to town not knowing if you will have a motel room or be sleeping in your truck warshing your backside in a Circle K. If being 2400 miles away from home on Decemner 23 and no airline ticket to get home, You can eat out every meal for weeks on end. You have a tooth start hurting. You get a serious cold, running a 103 fever.
Shall I go on?
It is a wonderful life!
I have not known many that the work gets to. It is the lifestye.
In my over 20 years of living the life, if you adapt and thrive doing this type of work, you either have or are recovering from drugs. alochol or women. Or a combination of the two. I know exceptions but road wh0re$ who are really good and living the road life are missing something. It is NOT normal to load up your stuff and head out from the house and be gone for months, not days or weeks at a time.
Yea, it s a wonderful life.
Pipeline Integrity is a up an coming field. There is a lot of it going on and with the new pipeline law that was passed this month, it will only get better.

Paul

As the Big Kahuna says, it is a vagabond life.  That may take some "getting used to", if you haven't been exposed to in some way, like a stint in the military where you were moved around constantly.  (NOTE: Living at an Air Farce Base for two years does not count.)

I like that sort of work, because it is interesting and usually very important.  I am  third party CWI mostly involved in bridge fabrication inspection at the shop level.  In my opinion, this traveling lifestyle beats the "Commute".

If you can really save the money you make on the road, and earmark it for some future use, it would be worth it.

If you want to pursue continuing education during those ten years you will be out of luck.  If you can take courses "ON-LIne", maybe you can accomplish your education goals.

If you can consider Overseas work, there are reportedly really big money opportunities, but concurrently big dangers.

Thanks Guys,
This was the feedback I was looking for.
Yes, I'm somewhat aware of how $hitty that life can be. I did time in the Army and time as a FEMA inspector.  I've also done long-term project work up 'til about 4 yrs ago.  I went back to the "commute" 'cause that life was too hard on my wife & kids while they were in school.  They are all off to college now.  That's where the need for $$$ comes from.
I'm one of those geeks that like the life style and prefer not to commute.
I'm gonna give it a try.
Thanks again,
PWC