It takes a couple days to read all of this thread, but it is well worth it! It certainly has been for me. I'm wrestling with some of the same issues myself.

To read about the mental and emotional dynamics of changing careers through a forum like this is unique. Routine feedback came in a dependable, sensible, and timely manner from a consistent group of drivers and one driver's wife in particular.

Nothing was sugar-coated by anyone. Replies never sought to sway "ORG" one way or another, but drove him to think things through more fully. The romance of trucking was tempered by the expierences of drivers who made sure that reality checks were never more than a message away. ORG's questions, comments and replies clearly reveals several aspects of the necessary research, introspection, fact-finding and perhaps most importantly...fact-facing that is required in a career change. ORG did withhold one significant detail in his personal family that might have influenced softer replies, but readers must find this detail for themselves.

Currently, I have more in common with the decision process ORG went through than I care to admit, and my journey is only a few weeks old, with a long way to go. (My earliest timeline would be to start a school in late October.) No sense anyone suffering through my musings this far away.

To sum up: I am grateful to all those who rode along with ORG and his buddy from the beginning, and it seems as if I know all of you just a bit. You all certainly have my respect for honesty, dependability, and being great at motivation and encouragement.

Others have been correct. This thread should be required reading and secured. It is an excellent step-by-step revelation of almost every aspect of planning a career change and includes a revealing self-analysis by ORG himself and prompting by others who replied for him to carefully consider.

Great job by everyone. I've also read ORG and his buddy's in their follow-ups and plan to continue.

Regards!