Not a direct answer to your question, but because I've been in the same situation many times (wanting to move away from tech and work more outdoors), I just wanted to point out that there are "in-between" desk jobs too, where you're not working for a FAANG but not necessarily working in a sweatshop sewing linens either.<p>Patagonia, REI, the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, etc. all still need some digital expertise, whether for their storefront or internal operations. They will quite often recruit for dev or tech positions. Most of those aren't remote, but if you're near one of those areas (REI corporate is mostly near Seattle, Patagonia in Ventura), it might be worth considering? They mostly do not manufacture in the US either, but outsource that to various lower-cost countries. I think Outdoor Research is one of the limited exceptions who do some manufacturing domestically.<p>I don't think outdoor guides make much money. Many of my friends were kayaking/climbing/backpacking guides and it's kinda a thing you do in your 20s while you can live frugally and without major expenses or kids. They'd usually live in tents, company barracks, or their vans. It's also largely a seasonal job and you'd have to find your own way in the off seasons. A similar but slightly more stable job is working an interpretive ranger position for the Parks Service or a state park, but a lot of those are entry-level or seasonal too. People who want to stick around long term in those fields usually have to move into management/admin of some sort.<p>If you want to be outside a lot, the trades (construction) or project management (renewables development and planning, like for commercial wind or solar) or transportation (for states & municipalities) would all typically be more stable than outdoor recreation.<p>If you're willing to get more specialized education, you can also go the environmental consultancy route (with a bio/wildlife/GIS/etc. educational background), the kind of firm that other agencies and companies will outsource work to to evaluate environmental impacts, conduct endangered species analyses, or help with city planning and the like.