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kottke.org posts about Alastair Humphreys

The journey from hobby to job

Alastair Humphreys writes about making his living as an adventurer. But really, this advice works for anyone who wants to turn their hobby into a job. For instance, this list of reasons he’s an adventurer is pretty much why I did the same thing with kottke.org almost 10 years ago.

- I love almost every aspect of what I do.

- I love being self-employed: the freedom and the responsibility and the pressure.

- I think I’m probably now un-employable.

- I love being creative.

- I appreciate that building a profile helps generate exciting opportunities. (And I have come to accept โ€” though not enjoy โ€” the weird world of relentless self-promotion that being a career adventurer requires. I remain uncomfortable with people praising me more than I deserve, and I continue to get very angry and upset with the inevitable haters that your self-promotion will attract.)

Notice I don’t mention “going on adventures”, because there are loads of ways to do that in life. Don’t become a career adventurer solely because you want to go off on fun trips. There’s easier ways to do that.

That third point is a real double-edged sword. I can’t imagine what other job I would be even remotely qualified for other than this one. Feels like walking a tightrope without a safety net sometimes. (via @polarben)