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What are Some Good Career Choices for People Who Love the Outdoors?

Diana Bocco
By Diana Bocco
Updated May 17, 2024
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If you love the outdoors and have a sense of adventure, you should consider an outdoor career in your future. There are many options for people who do not want a traditional 9 to 5 office job, and prefer an outdoor career where they can feel freer and enjoy nature. Some of the most popular types of career that rarely require a trip to the office include:

  • Ecotour Guide. Adventure travel has been a hot business for the past two decades. If you are a sports enthusiast and don't mind "getting your boots dirty," this may be a great outdoor career for you. Whether you work locally, organizing hiking tours, or travel around the world in extreme adventures, this is an option that requires little to no indoor time. If you have a special expertise, such as photography, whitewater rafting experience, or knowledge of biology, you can work in specialized fields.
  • Horticulture and Botany. People with a love for everything green have an option for an outdoor career in botany. This may involve working in gardens, sharing laboratory time with scientists working on identifying or preserving certain species, or counseling the city about their city parks and forests.
  • Forest Ranger. If you truly love the rugged life, an outdoor career as a forester may be the perfect choice for you. Forest rangers often live in idyllic settings either in the mountains or deep into the forest or national parks. They work by preventing fires, supervising regional construction work, and dealing with park visitors.

If you love nature but don't mind spending most of your time working inside, you may consider an outdoor career such as Environmental journalist or attorney, where the focus is on the environment even though your work is done from behind a desk. Grassroots organizing is another great outdoor career option for those concerned about the environment. Grassroots organizers work on environmental issues such as recycling or pollution by putting together volunteer groups or counseling a particular industry on how to deal with these topics.

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Discussion Comments

By anon251554 — On Mar 01, 2012

Thanks for all the info! It was very useful to me. I now know some options to carefully consider.

By ShellM89 — On Jun 07, 2011

@healthnwell - A few more suggestions: If you like working outdoors and you like green and sustainable living you might consider being a Forest Ranger as the article suggests; at least part of your job would be geared toward sustaining the environment you work in. You would be outdoors most of the time and you might be able to teach park visitors about green and sustainable living.

You might also think about working for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife. They have positions like Fish and Wildlife Technician which spend most of their time outdoors. Fish and Game Wardens enforce laws that are there to protect the environment.

There are sustainable living degree programs at some schools and those who graduate have both indoor and outdoor jobs available to them. While there seems to be a demand for green jobs not all of them are outdoors even part of the time. Some jobs are found in developing countries and/or working for environmentally focused non-profit organizations.

By donna61 — On Mar 07, 2011

@healthnwell--You can look at green energy companies, green construction, landscaping, organic garden planning.

You can look on-line or go to your local college and ask about green or sustainable energy and living.

It's an exciting and expanding area, my son is looking into this area as a career.

By healthnwell — On Mar 06, 2011

I would love a career in the outdoors. I also love green and sustainable living. Does anyone know of a career choice that would include both?

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