I havent been one in awhile, but I have them come through my shop all the time.
Generally you will travel from different jobs to different jobs or shops as they go along with shop fab or field erection.  It could be only one day at one location, or 2 years at the same spot, it can vary that much.
Do you plan on working for yourself or a company?

I know a guy who works for himself, he has it harder becasue he has to get the work, schedule it, and then perform it.  Of course he maeks more than guys who works for a company like I did.  Personally I'd rather work for someone, they carry the insurance and payroll and it's good to have others to refer back to when issues come up.

I didn't mind the work, I hated the travel.  Im a 9-5 kinda guy, after work I have things to do around the house.  You can't do that when your 200 miles away from home.  Also the schedule is always changing, they'll tell you 3 day job, and it turns into a 2 week job.
Good Luck

Wow.  I don't think you realize how loaded that question is. 

Let's look at a few things that may affect this discussion:
1) Are you going to specialize (D1.1 or API 1104 or ASME)?  Or are you going to try and do anything you can get ahold of?
2) Do you have ALL the code books that apply to your direction?  (example: for D1.1 you also need D1.3, D1.4, D1.8, AISC Construction Manual, AISC Seismic, IBC, ASTM Selected Standards, just to get you started)
3) Are you going to carry Professional Services Insurance?  Worker's Comp? Auto Job Site Liability?  Health?
4) Are you going to be a licensed business in your state?  (needs to be checked out, some don't require it)  A licensed contractor? (again, some don't require it) 
5) Are you going to Incorporate in order to protect your personal assets in case something goes wrong?
6) Are you going to get certified for OSHA 30, lift operator, man lift operator, first aid, fall protection, and any other requirements of the job documents? (I suggest reading job documents very carefully, including the job specs which are generally several hundred pages of legalease, many requirements in there even for inspectors) 
7) Whose equipment will you use on the jobsite?  Renting your own scissors lift?  Need to be qualified.  Using the contractors?  They must supply an operator.  (It's almost always in the specs)
8) Do you have your own safety plan, Haz Mat Plan, Fire Plan, QC plan including calibrating of tools?

I'm sure you will get many responses.  Some will even comment and/or challenge some of the items I have asked here.  It is needful to exam all of these because sometimes they are needed and sometimes they are not.

A few things to start thinking about.  THEN you can start wondering if there is steady work out there.  One would need to define 'steady'.  I keep pretty busy 40-60 hrs per week.  Travelling anywhere from a couple of miles to several hundred miles.  Usually within my own state. 

Have a Great Day,  Brent

Ladies and Gentlemen,
                I am a graduate engineer and took successfully my CWI exam in 1993 and third partied for outfits for +six years
Point by Point
Wild
Personally was a way to fit construction work ( dockbuilder ) , Engineering ( US and overseas ) and journalism together with money in to get by.
and woolly
Worked for an outfit for more than 5 years and never seen their office. Get assignment and be there. If you are not looking for steady and take off on other work you do motel living on the road. It is an experience!
would as a CWI inspector? I would like to hear the
good  -
About 50 an hour in Mexico with CWI secondary to Petroleum Engineer work
,
bad reject iron and no smiles
, and the
ugly
Some of what was supposed to be a welds.
Steady work
I took a Civil service exam and been steadily employed for 12 years keeping my CWI up!
I hope this is helpful.
                      Sincerely
Len Andersen weld@spemail.org
               914-536-7101   / 212-839-6599     8-4 New York Time , 4042 FAX , Co-worker 6381 / 914-237-7689 (H)
POB 1529 / NYC 10116-1529 ( $1100 per year Caller Box GPO NYC / Most Secure Service At Largest Post Office )
                       www.lenandersen.com

fit2inspect,

Good, never gets boring unless you have a long term gig, or your dispatching company has one preferred client they send you to for any and all work.
Bad, if you get too chummy with the floor hands and they offer to take you out drinking and discover you're not as well received as they would have had you believe.
Ugly, not so great on the steady income unless... see Good above. Must be very diplomatic or see Bad above....

It is just like any profession. You're success will be directly proportional to the effort you put into it.
Me, been doing it off and on for a few years and Love'n It.
It's not for everyone though.
Some jobs are very kicked back and others will age you exponentially. You can never know until you get there most of the time. Can't always go on the advice of predecessors or others, unless you know them really well. AND that don't always count either.

Fit2inspect.

There is a lot of work out there.
Except for the lapses between contracts, it is steady.
Job security for inspectors in the quality arena is a double edged blade.
At the end of a inspection contract, consider changing employers, instead of renewing for another job.
Maintaining autonomy as an inspector is very important.

'Adaption to change' is important for survival in the inspection world, but real inspection power comes from 'Anticipation of change'.
One of the major reasons welders make better inspectors because their see the problem before it happens.

Alexa