OK, some thoughts from (almost) the other side of things:
1. Some kids are easy, some kids are tough. You have no control over which one you get.
2. There are as many different types of parenting styles as there are kids. The key is finding the style that works with the kid you have.
3. Luckily, humans have big brains and are readily adaptable. The key is to be flexible about it, and have the humility to admit that you may not know it all and that there isn't only one "right" way. The right way is that one that results in a healthy, happy family. Period.
4. You can live whatever kind of life you want with kids, including full-time travel if you want.
5. People here are, in general, tremendously well-suited to handle parenting, if they so choose. Because they are creative and independent enough to chart a course different than most of society, and flexible and self-confident enough to change that course when needed.
6. IME, people with one special-needs child may be overprotective with their other kid(s). So that may not be an ideal example to judge from.
7. Also IME, all of the parenting styles within the realm of reason result in pretty good, normal kids. Barring abuse, the biggest issue is when there is a huge disconnect between the kid's needs and the parent's natural style, and the parent is very "respect my authori-tay" and refuses to even consider changing. So if you avoid being quite so full of yourself, your kid's most likely going to be fine.
8. Whatever you do, keep your sense of humor intact. Because it is all fundamentally absurd.
Look, I have two. The first was a giant PITA whose terrible twos went from 13 mos. to 42 mos., who couldn't tolerate being out of my sight for even a second, who was ADHD basically from birth, and who never. shut. up.* I was a pretty hands-off, no-nonsense parent, and BOY did none of that work with her; she was basically a remora. My second was a big, cute, fluffy marshmallow, who was happy to play quietly by himself from day 1 -- if I'd had him first, I'd have thought I was the best parent ever.
With my first, I worked harder than I ever had in my life to try to figure her out -- and I mean, harder than studying for the Bar exam in two different states. I spent probably what amounts to months of my life worrying about her. When she was 12, all I could think was this kid is never going to be able to move out of my house, hold a job, and function independently. And yet the older she got, the better her grades got, the more independent she became, and the happier she became as I trusted her to make her own decisions. And now here she is off at college, managing 100% of her shit on her own.
Obviously, she's not your kid, so there's no reason you should care. But I say this for one simple reason: she is what I am most proud of in my life. Not because she is perfect or wonderful, but because she is not. Because she made me stretch and learn more than anything else I had ever done in my life (again, including entire legal career). Because it was hard as shit -- and I figured it out. Yes, I screwed up -- daily, hourly -- along the way. But she and I navigated it, and I played a part in helping grow an adult, despite serious doubts that that would ever happen at several points along the way.
Part of what MMM talks about is the satisfaction of pushing yourself, of learning new things, of dealing with temporary discomfort for long-term growth. I have gotten more of that from parenting my DD than from anything else I have ever done. And that's why I wouldn't trade any of it, even if I could.
(And here I am patting myself on the back for being such an awsome parent, and now my formerly-easygoing DS is 13 and starting to act out in a completely different way, so now I get to go back to square 1 and learn an entire new set of parenting skills. Oh joy. . . .)
*Talk about showering on your own? I had to put her on the bathroom floor and play peek-a-boo around the shower wall; this is kinda mean, but sometimes I'd pop out and back on purpose to make the crying start and stop and start and stop. Made me laugh every time.