Dream Job

“I never wanted to be anyone else”. –Peter Fonda

  It seems like about once a year Outside magazine publishes a story about  dream jobs, and although I’ve admired many of them I’ve never seen one  that I would trade for my own. Everyone’s idea of the perfect job is a little  different, but the bottom line is that most people would rather spend their days doing something that they are passionate about than slaving away  for the weekends and a couple of weeks of vacation a year. As the creative  force behind School of the World, my job is to continually evolve the school  and its environment, making it the best learning vacation experience  possible. Everything from architectural design and course planning has gone  into it, but for the most part I just try to translate my love of travel, learning,  art, and design into an experience others can share. In other words, my job  is to do what I love, then inspire others to do the same.

  A lot of students have been impressed by the great vibe of our staff. We have a very low turnover rate (sorry for all of you who have sent us inquiries about jobs). Everyone here really enjoys what they do. When I first started the school I was really focusing on how to make my dream job a reality, but what I didn’t foresee was how that would create a ripple effect that would echo through the school and influence guests in their approach to their own lives after returning home. I’m no inspirational speaker, but I’ve been asked so many times about how I managed to set my life up this way that I thought maybe I’d post some tips for the dreamers out there. After all, I remember the moment when I saw someone else living their dream and I thought, “Hey, if they can do it I can too.” Sounds cheesy, but the initial decision wasn’t anything more than that. I didn’t have a clue about how to make it reality at the time… the School of the World started out as an idea written on a bar napkin!

Tips for Dreamers and Dream Job seekers:

“That’s why they call it work, it’s not supposed to be fun.” Steer clear of negative people that say stuff like this. There are plenty of wet blankets out there that will tell you your idea won’t work. There are a lot more people out there doing what they love and getting paid for it than you realize.

Sacrifice and be stubborn. Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar, Oxford graduate, and helicopter pilot that turned down an offer to teach at West Point in order to chase a dream of being a songwriter. He took a job as a janitor at the recording studio to be near the music. He went from janitor to songwriter to Hollywood icon because he wasn’t concerned with what anyone else thought.

The time you have between when you are born and when you die is infinitely more valuable than any sum of money you can acquire. Despite every device we buy that promises to save time, time cannot be saved. It goes by faster and faster every year of your life. Spend it wisely with people that matter to you and doing what makes you happy.

Get a handle on the difference between wants and needs. The reward of having a dream job isn’t usually financial; it’s more about quality of life. It certainly can have financial rewards, but that never seems to be the main drive of any of the passionate people I’ve met.

  Try to eat healthier and enjoy activities that double as exercise. Living your dream is about nurturing a healthy soul, but before you can get there you have to take care of your body and mind. Eating healthy and exercising increase your energy level and contribute to your overall happiness and outlook on life. You mind is like a muscle in the sense that it can atrophy if you aren’t giving it enough exercise. Learning doesn’t end on graduation day.

And finally, don’t wait. Potential, even great potential, has a shelf life. Even if there are obstacles, make a plan and start taking small steps towards your goal one day at a time. For some reason the process of making a plan in list form and then marking off steps as I complete them works as great encouragement to me. Find what works for you. 

Good luck and safe travels.