Some general comments
The death of playable blackjack has been reported many times. It has been predicted even more often. But it is getting tougher and tougher to find decent games. It's even harder to find enough playable games to make a living at it. I would not be surprised to find that blackjack is not a sustainable way to make a living within a few years. There are many who say it is not sustainable now, but there are still a tiny number of people who do it. The number of solo players who strictly make their living counting cards might be counted in double digits, and that is probably on the low end.
I've read your posts with some interest. You mentioned that you like the cloak and dagger aspect of counting. Believe me, that little bit of "excitement" wears thin and it doesn't take too long, especially if you are depending on your winnings for a living. The cat and mouse game can get very old very fast. You find a decent game, but you can't play it for long without running into longevity problems.
As a result, you have to travel. There is nothing glamorous about staying in hotel rooms night after night, eating in restaurants all the time, driving endless hours and/or waiting in airports after being felt up by overzealous TSA agents. Casinos lose their allure and become like any other workplace where you have to grind out a living. Sharing the tables with drunks and idiots doesn't add to the allure and putting up with their endless criticisms of your play doesn't help either.
It is also difficult to make really good money playing blackjack. You are constrained by table limits to some extent, but even more constrained by the amount of money you can reasonably expect to bet and still be able to play. There are some soloists who make in the low six figures, but that's about the limit if card counting is your only game. Most make less than that. You talked about avoiding long losing streaks, but if you play enough to make a living at it, you cannot avoid them and your skill levels and game selection have nothing to do with it. As one pro player has remarked on these pages in the past, you lose the most money at the best games. That comment may not make sense to you now, but it will if you become a serious player.
You're 19, so you have time to find this out on your own. But I wouldn't start planning my retirement based on card counting. It is extremely unlikely. That said, blackjack can be an excellent way to supplement an income that comes from other sources.
