Sunshine Jobs: Career Opportunities, Working Outdoors

Stewing in your windowless cubicle dreaming of fresh air in your lungs and rich dirt under your fingernails? Tom Stienstra's guide to outdoor work is a great help and a fine reality check, with practical profiles of 50 outdoor jobs. You could become a bicycle tour leader or a bush pilot, a game warden or hydrologist, photographer or tugboat operator, but if you want to advance your dream to reality status, it helps to read up on the facts.

Take bush pilot, for example. It's so appealing as an antidote to your drab, routine life. Flying into wild country, big adventures, big respect, and big pay--what's not to like? But you'll need a commercial pilot's license costing $15,000-$20,000, a lot of flying time, and the sort of temperament that stays cool when the engine conks out and the greenhorn in back tosses his cookies all over you.

Less enthused? Read on. There are 49 more jobs to choose from, and Stienstra is as entertaining to read as he is well-informed and thorough. --Stephanie Gold