how about tech writing? something like that, or maybe summarizing medical records or such. you could work from home once you were established.

Most people you'll ever meet make themselves go out and pick a career so they can buy the big TV and the right clothes and pay their mortgage and their car loans and take yearly vacations to the exact same spot at the exact same time every year, so as not to interfere with work. They plan their entire lives around some dumbass job they don't even like, instead of planning their jobs around their lives. And they're miserable sons of bitches for it. How many truly, genuinely happy people do you meet? One or two in a long, long while, and they're generally pretty far apart.

I know people with jobs they would rather really not talk about, nothing in particular jobs, they spend all day answering the phone and writing emails, but what do they actually DO?!
You need a career in research of some sort I reckon, where you can learn and learn and learn some more.

It's ass-early in the morning, and I can't sleep. I just need to get this out, so please bare with me, kids.

Well here it is folks. In a pique of frustration, today I've quit my last and now only job. I had two jobs. Now none. The first was a cleaning job that was going along fine. I got fired for what amounts to wrongful dismissal. The labour board's already been contacted about that, so that's not the problem. The second I quit because if I had to tag one more bloody item while listening to a corporate playlist of stupid songs pulled out of cell phone ads for what's essentially a starvation wage, I was going to scream.

But that was a stupid thing to do. I've got less than a full summer left to save money before I can haul my ass out of this backwards shithole of a town.

Oddly enough, that's not even my biggest concern right now.

While going over my finances and re-juggling how I'm going to manage it all this evening, something occurred to me. The whole thing's a waste of time. Since I was 17 I've been working jobs I hate that have no hope of advancement and piss-poor pay and not having shit to show for it. That said, I just finished 1st year of a degree this spring and am getting myself organized for 2nd year -figuring the most logical way out of this wage-slavery being higher education.

My problem? I have no idea what sort of a career I'd want to aim for. Not a damned clue. And at 23, and with 6 years of the nobly-named "service" jobs under my belt, I'm in need of a change and a shot at a real job. Trouble is, I can only coast in school for one more year (it's an Associate degree) before I have to make a decision. Why haven't I been able to make one?

Because I don't want to do anything. Well, that's not really it, either. I do want to do something. I want to read and learn and be a student of a sort and travel and see the world and try new things and meet new people and go outside my comfort zone completely and just be happy with my life and my existence. THAT is what I want to do with my life.

Most people you'll ever meet make themselves go out and pick a career so they can buy the big TV and the right clothes and pay their mortgage and their car loans and take yearly vacations to the exact same spot at the exact same time every year, so as not to interfere with work. They plan their entire lives around some dumbass job they don't even like, instead of planning their jobs around their lives. And they're miserable sons of bitches for it. How many truly, genuinely happy people do you meet? One or two in a long, long while, and they're generally pretty far apart.

What I want to do -what I think would make me truly, genuinely happy -is not that. I don't want to own or rent a home, or even have a fixed address. I want to get rid of all but my most important possessions, and perhaps have those in storage for safekeeping. I'd have a P.O. Box and an email address and maybe a laptop to stay in touch with those most important to me, and that's it. Not even a phone. I don't want or need a car, because I've got no desire to be a motorist, or pay for the so-called privilege of being one. I want to go wherever and whenever I feel like. An itinerant life appeals to me.

Of course, the big goddamn puzzle is -how could I pay for that? Nothing's free anymore, not even freedom. If I want to do this -and I believe I can, if I can only sort out the details -I'm going to need to figure out some long-term income plan. Though it'd be nice, winning the lottery's far-fetched, and I don't play anyway.

I wish I knew where to start. I've gone over in my mind all the obvious, travel-friendly careers, but all have problems. Travel writer? They get paid by their employers to lie. Airline stewardess or cruiseline worker? It's the same servile, low-paying jobs I've been doing down on terra firma, and you can't pick where you go. Missionary? I don't believe in shoving foreign religion down people's throats, thanks. Archeologist? I'm probably bright enough, but I fail to see the humour in shoving my face in pits of sand and rock for months on end. UN Envoy? I think you're only allowed to be one of those if you're a celebrity of dubious talent.

When I am an old woman, I want to have a story worth telling. I don't want to tell my grandchildren, when they ask about my life, that I spent 40 years underneath fluorescent lights begging for a slip of money. Millions of years of evolution brings us to this? I don't think we were made for that.

It's getting light now, and though I'm done with this post, my mind's still going a mile a minute. I won't be able to sleep. I don't know what I'm looking for here, or why I thought it might be useful to post any of this. I think that I hoped that I'm not the only one.

I've already got a Student Loan arranged for next year. Trouble is, I can only coast without a plan for next year, then after that any schooling will have to be done with a career in mind. Much as I'd like to be a perpetual student, I can't live off the part-time wages I'd be making as a student

Most grownups (and by that I mean adults who aren't me ) that I know have jobs like that. Something they got into for the money or to pay for the big house or whichever, and while they may have plenty materially as a result, they've got nothing really worthwhile out of the deal. All it takes is to accidently listen in to other's conversations about their jobs to see most people are not happy with what they do.

Research?

I don't think research is for everyone, but it keeps my 2 cousins busy

It could be something to look into.

you might find something you become totally engrossed in! That is my dream too, to find the THING lol

I'm sure there's a way to combine History of Rock with Sociology.

Pop Culture Studies...?

Have you thought about some type of volunteer service ~ Habitat For Humanity, Bird Sanctuaries, Clean Water projects in Ghana, Mentoring kids in Inner cities ~ there are endless opportunities, in any venue you can imagine, all over the world. Many of the organizations will provide room and board, although you sometimes have to get to the site on your own. Many pay a stipend as well and the experience you'll gain would be incredible and could lead you to what you want to ultimately do as your life's work. What exciting prospects for you!

totally!!!

Sounds like a very-well educated person.