Alternative Jobs
A guide to finding alternative jobs that might make your life happierWe'll start with the assumption that money isn't everything. This is a fairly important assumption when talking about alternative jobs. You see, because most of these jobs don't pay well. You should also know that no matter what, you don't actually have to have a job you hate. Now this hate might be good for you, but you don't need to spend the rest of your life doing something that has no value. I also can't stand the word "alternative", but there it is, try and come up with a better one. Here are the alternative jobs I know about:
-Teaching English
-Farm internships
-Outdoor education
-Creating your dream
I'll go through the details on all of these. I'm sure there's a lot of other good jobs out there, so please feel free to write in if there's something I've missed.
Teaching English
You don't even need to leave your english speaking home to do this, but it's often easier to find a job if you do, and that's a lot more culturally interesting. The big hotspots for this are in Asia. China, South Korea, and Japan are all brimming with jobs. China is probably the least commercial of the three, but even communist China is quickly changing. Most Asian countries have a mandatory english requirement that's aimed at attracting more business. Take a look at Dave's esl cafe for job postings and other information.
Farm internships
If you haven't grown food for a living, you're missing out on a very basic and satisfying way of life. It's hard. Really hard and long work, but there's very little of the business world hypocrisy and modern day complications. You can look up farms around the United States and the world through the ATTRA website (appropriate technology transfer for rural areas). Most internships are for one or two seasons, but some are longer. Usually you'll be exchanging work for experience along with room and board. Some farms will offer a small stipend.
Outdoor education
The new finding in progressive schools across the country has been that children usually learn far more when school is conducted outside the classroom. Outdoor education schools are popping up around the country where a school group can go for 1-3 days and focus on team building, adventure sports, and environmental programs. That's a bunch a jargon, and it mainly means the kids will be working together and by themselves to overcome physical challenges (like a high ropes course or a game where they must cooperate) as well as looking at and thinking about all the things they don't see in the city (like wild animals and trees). So if you like kids a lot, and there's no reason not to, as well as working outdoors, then working at one of these schools can be great. Some national and state parks also hold similar programs. There are a ton of sites on the internet dedicated to outdoor education (Environmental Education Job Links), but the best way might be to ask a nearby school. Most schools receive flyers from outdoor schools in their area and should be happy to pass on the information to you.
A Note: A lot of people go looking for alternative work because they want to escape their problems. Escaping "cramped up city life" is okay, but most of these employers, especially farmers, have no room in their schedule to take of people trying to recover from complex emotional wounds.
Creating your dream
Here is the basic premise that I stated above. You can really do whatever you dream, but it is hard. In the same sense, it's often very hard to do something you don't believe in, so trying to hash out your dream can be easier in that sense. Very few people have ever actually tried to match their dreams with reality and just attempting this, even if you fail, can be monumental. Yes, it also builds experience. Everything builds experience. I think of this: Try and imagine something out there that doesn't exist now, but something that you'd very much like to exist. For example, the book that you'd really love to read. Now go write that book. This is fairly simple.