I have been surprised at how many people working in the outdoors don't go there for recreation. Part of this is simple logistics - you have to find time for dental checkups, arranging mortgages, and buying cars (to say nothing of goodies at REI!). I have been somewhat of an exception because I almost always managed to spend a fair amount of free time away from town, even when I was doing archaeological field work. Every day of field work generally requires about three in the lab, so I had plenty of weeks of office work when the weekends were a welcome relief.

I began as a fire fighter, and originally wanted to be a traditional park ranger, but I stayed with archaeology when I realized I got more time away from the desk than most rangers; and I had chances to find some real nice things....