[Pi]

Talking about preparation : read The World's Most Dangerous Places by Robert Y. Pelton.
Work one, two years to get some money. During this time work your style and technic and go for freelance.
I was studying to become a social aid worker, when I took exams for Royal Military Academy. I past the exams with success and so I changed completly, I always wanted to become officer in the Army. But when I finished my secondary studies, they didn't recrute officiers so I had to do something else. But you shouldn't give up your dreams. Try it and if it doesn't work, you always can go back from where you've started. But you won't have the regrets of not having tried...