Getting Paid for Living Good

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Yep. If you can't find the kind of setup you're looking for, you can often create it. Just locate the owner of a large piece of country property and point out the dangers of forest fires, vandalism, trespassers and poachers. If you can work with your hands, offer to improve the grounds (by constructing fences, outbuildings, roads, drainage ditches, ponds, etc.) during your stay. Make a straightforward business deal, in other words, to live on the property, maintain and protect it.

There's always at least one drawback to everything, I suppose, and in this case it's the word "protect". If you're prejudiced against police work, maybe you should skip this whole idea because "protecting" involves law enforcement to some extent. You may even be required to wear a uniform and cut your hair in some cases and—on top of that—most of the Civil Service openings in this field require special education in biology, forestry or whatever. Doing the caretaker thing, then, won't necessarily—but definitely can —have the same kind of overtones as any other "straight" employment. In fact, you may have to come on pretty square before many owners, governmental or private, will entrust their land to you.

The sacrifice (if any) involved, though, is well worth making. Remember, you're not just getting money in return. . . but a whole way of life. Protecting and preserving the natural beauty of the land is one kind of "police" work that's actually gratifying . . . because you're fighting a real crime, not interfering with private matters.

And once you've settled in to your new employment (lifestyle), you'll have plenty of time and opportunity to pursue your own interests . . . as long as you keep the place in good shape and spend most of your time close to home base. Best of all, when the park or whatever isn't overrun with visitors from the city, you'll have it all to yourself. You can then play at being a country squire . . . or a dirt farmer . . . or just relax into quiet communion with nature.

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