Happiness depends heavily on where in the world you are employed by which airline and what you make of it with your personal attitude. The spectrum of work/life balance is huge and payment can range from negative (pay us to allow you to fly for us) to big bucks (who has the time to spend this much?). Different labour rights in different countries like being fired and deported on a whim or strong unions and rights that protect you almost no matter what. How much free time do you have? Both at destination and at home, what is more important for whom? I had to retire due to a brain cancer diagnosis. So medical stuff is another slippery slope. Back pains? Migranes? You’re on your way out. I loved the job though. I was flexible enough to not be bothered by last minute changes to my flight roster or irregular sleep schedules. Not having kids and a stay-at-home wife helped with that as well. (If your partner works as well, the time you actually see each other can get scarce.) This also applies to friends. Wanna go out with me on a Friday? Should have told me two months ago so I could have requested off days… you get the idea.