Feedback on becoming a network consultant and education plan

Alright, so I want to become a network consultant. To be more exact I want to be able to travel to different job sites and help build, support, and/or fix network issues then move onto the next site once the job is done. Maybe one day be bad ass enough to be wanted world wide for contract work based on reputation 
Well before getting that far (hopefully) I need to be edumacated. Next year I will be attending Focus: HOPE ITC which will help me obtain a CCNA if I study hard.
After that my next step will be to enroll in a WGU degree program, more specifically the Network Design & Management program. Now, I do not have any other college experience so I expect that to take about 4 years to graduate from.
Does that sound like a good plan or are there better ways to help me achieve my career goals? Should I continue and try to achieve a masters degree in some sort of IT area or will a bachelor's degree be enough once I get real world work experience and develop a portfolio?
Some of you guys are high up in the IT food chain so any advice I will take to heart.
Thank you for your time in advance.

Well before getting that far (hopefully) I need to be edumacated. Next year I will be attending Focus: HOPE ITC which will help me obtain a CCNA if I study hard.
After that my next step will be to enroll in a WGU degree program, more specifically the Network Design & Management program. Now, I do not have any other college experience so I expect that to take about 4 years to graduate from.
Does that sound like a good plan or are there better ways to help me achieve my career goals? Should I continue and try to achieve a masters degree in some sort of IT area or will a bachelor's degree be enough once I get real world work experience and develop a portfolio?
Some of you guys are high up in the IT food chain so any advice I will take to heart.
Thank you for your time in advance.
Comments
If you're considering WGU -- which requires a self-study commitment -- you might want to try some of the low cost options to knock out some of the General Education requirements and see if you have the motivation and drive to do the self-study thing. There are the CLEP tests and somthing else that starts with S..... that's mentioned over in one or both of the main WGU threads.
You could also consider a few self-study certifications that would also count towards your WGU degree and help you move up at work.
Then you can leverage your work experience while you work on your WGU degree and try to get on with a local Cisco Business Partner -- if you're sure you want to get into hardcore Cisco networking. If you're lucky (and have the skills) and don't get buried at one customer site, you'd probably gain more Cisco experience in one year than most people only dream about.
After 4 years (and completing your WGU degree -- or degrees) you should know enough to figure out your own path to the top (if that's where you still want to go).
You could also follow this advice -- but don't let it (and the access to the Partner eLearning) interfere with your Education Plan. Starting at a Business Partner is definitely the fast track, but if you burn out you don't want to be left with nothing.
Degrees and certifications are important but a lot of people with both haven't accomplished technically impressive things in the field. This is often down to settling into a job or company that beats it's own drum in terms of technology choices and the ebb and flow of work. I have worked with permies over the years who would have struggled if they went contracting. They know one way of working and get comfortable. As I always say, your portfolio of work defines your trajectory career wise so you want to be getting into a position which offers lots of things to learn and do and opportunity to press on and get ahead. The sooner you are in a buck stops here role handling a lot of must do deadlines, the greater are your prospects to advance, assuming you can hack it.
Like Mike says an integrator can offer that or you can try contracting. Expect to work long hours and to struggle. Any of us who made it did and still do. Good luck.
If you want to do networking you may want to take the Security emphasis at WGU as it is basically the general IT degree with courses that lead to the CCNA and CCNA: Security. This will especially be beneficial if you're fairly new to the IT world as you'll get extra exposure via the Database, web design, and Java programming courses that aren't in the NDM emphasis. I'd also like to warn you that if you don't have server experience the Server 2008 classes/tests can be a real bear (I know form having that experience)
Great post!
I agree it's so important to not get stagnant and complacent. I am looking to make a career move for several reasons, outsourcing, pay, and MORE RESPONSIBILITIES. Those 3 things motivate me the most. Although I will say a really strong 4th is the environment in which I work. If I like my boss and the people I work around I am in good shape generally.
Also you might want to take note of the email I got from WGU a couple of weeks ago. You should still qualify if you just go ahead with your plans and get the CCNA!