In September 2017, Sydney Williams realized her sedentary corporate lifestyle was literally killing her.\r\n

A former collegiate rower and professional skydiver, she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes after a 12-year career in big-brand corporate marketing and public relations. \r\n

“I realized that everything that I thought was a bragging point on my resume was actually teaching people how to be sick and numb, and I was a byproduct of the work I had been doing,” Williams says. “I decided I wanted to use my skills to make the world a better place. So I left my cushy agency job with a six-figure salary, platinum health benefits provided by my employer, unlimited time off, and prestigious clients to join my friend’s startup in the realm of women’s empowerment and social justice.” \r\n

But while her goal of joining the startup was to find and contribute deeper meaning to the world, the stress of startup life left her even sicker and more unhappy than before.\r\n

So she left. \r\n

A journey to healing\r\n

Four days after leaving the startup, Williams was hiking when she realized that, thanks to diabetes, she had shifted her coping mechanisms from eating and drinking her feelings to hiking her feelings. “That shift felt revolutionary,” says Williams. But even more important was her realization that she had been coping unhealthily for all of those years due to a sexual assault she had survived in college and how the trauma had manifested in her mind and body. \r\n

After Williams’s epiphany on the healing that comes from reconnecting with herself and nature, she made it her mission to spread the message to others dealing with ailments of body and mind. She recalls, “In late 2018, my husband and I sold everything we owned and moved into a 1998 Chevy van so we could take this message around the country, and share the healing power of nature with as many people as possible.” \r\n

Now, as an author, event planner, and speaker with her organization, Hiking My Feelings, she hosts storytelling events and hikes around the United States to encourage people to get off the couch and onto the trail. \r\n

Williams believes the work she is doing can have a monumental impact on the world. “This is bigger than my story and bigger than hiking,” she explains. “The fact of the matter is, when we disconnect from our distractions and reconnect with ourselves, anything is possible. We meet folks on the road who hike their feelings, but they also bike, run, yoga, climb, fish, ride motorcycles, sail, and surf their feelings. The common throughline is when we get the devices out of our faces and get outside, tremendous healing is possible.”\r\n

Williams is walking proof, as her diabetes has been in excellent control for over a year, and she’s healthier and happier than she’s ever been. The outdoors turned her life around, and she turned around and made it her livelihood.\r\n

Aside from the nearly countless overall health benefits of spending time outdoors, nature offers unmatched opportunities for exploration, education, recreation, and leisure that can contribute to a vibrant and meaningful life. \r\n

Are you sitting at a desk as you read this, looking out the windows of an office — yes, even a home office — and wishing you were outside? \r\n

The fact is, like Sydney Williams, some people actually get paid to work outside. Maybe you could, too.\r\n

We'll explore several outdoors and nature-based jobs from the perspectives of people who have experience doing them; the benefits, the challenges, the training required, and the best advice for job seekers; plus wage and growth statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics based on the 2018 median salary for those jobs and the growth projected by 2028. \r\n

For your reference, the median annual wage for all workers in 2018 was $38,640 and the average growth rate for all occupations is 5 percent. \r\n

\"Outdoor\r\n

Infographic by Venngage\r\n

Read through all of the jobs we've compiled, browse the expert insight quote boxes, or click on a job category to jump straight to it: \r\n