What is your dream job?

Soldato
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Sod it - while i'm trying to cure insomnia reading 10 year old dashed dreams (unlucky @LiE - but at least your d*** isn't spackled with genital warts due to the 'lucky-dip' nature of your dream job :D) - a couple of jobs come to mind:

A Pro-golfer that is 'consistently' just outside the world top 10 (perhaps with the added luck where I almost win a major, in a memorable play-off, to secure decent sponsors but without the pressure that winning would ultimately bring).

You would still make great money, travel the world, and you can play into your 50s. Plus, the big bonus of skirting the top 10 means minimal media attention and by extension less external expectation/pressure to win.

Finish your tournament, token sound bites to the media and then off to the 19th hole...

...week later next tournament in warm idyllic settings - rinse and repeat until it's no longer fun and rich (i'm conveniently ignoring all the practice required in my dreaming).

That, or a successful session player (guitar/piano). Again, would earn great money, doing what you love, and still get to travel the world meeting interesting people, and fly under the radar in the media...

Basically, any job that you're passionate about and pays grotesquely well but with the added bonus you get to switch off and relax at the end of the day and move onto other projects relatively quickly.
 
Man of Honour
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Well he said "successful" session player.

Its interesting to follow jobbing musicians on Vlogs.

I was thinking that success for a session player was more along the lines of steady demand for their playing and thus a reliable decent income rather than great money. But I know next to nothing about it. I had a quick look online but only found USA figure, which were pretty vague but around US$50K with US$100K at the top end.

The only number I have is one that stuck in my head - Raphael Ravenscroft was paid £27.50 for playing the saxophone bits on "Baker Street". Which was apparently the going rate at the time. It was a fairly short amount of time playing in a recording studio, but it seems very low for the most famous part of a hugely successful song. It's probably the most widely heard saxophone playing ever. But he was paid by the hour, not by how successful the song was. I like to think that if it was my song I'd have sent him a pile of money later for his contribution, when I started getting my share of the oodles of money. But maybe I wouldn't have done. Who knows?
 
Man of Honour
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Not necessarily something I'd actually want to do mind but my dream job would be something on the cutting edge of research and development - treading ground no one has been before - but taking it to the extreme like remote arctic research station kind of thing (which is why I wouldn't necessarily actually want to do it but I kind of like the idea in concept).
 
Soldato
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Session players make great money? I'm surprised.
Well he said "successful" session player.
Yes, the emphasis is very much on 'successful' if only focusing on the money.

The "Baker Street" example, although a well documented pee-take for Raphael, is not the modern day example i was exploiting. That said he still had a great career - travelling the world, doing what he loved. He got to play with some of the biggest bands of the time and will have made decent, consistent, money after working with Rafferty - for a period (I too, have no idea how much he made total/blew/failed marriages - apart from anecdotal stories on musician forums, newpaper bio snippets and Wiki.).

The modern day session player i was alluding to, in my pipe-dream-job, would be in the top 10 on producer's/bands speed dial list (for that instrument). They make obscene amounts of money - when breaking down their pay on individual projects - certainly enough to retire in comfort early if it lost its novelty.

That said, it wouldn't just be about the money with session play (compared to the golfing analogy). I can't think of a more rewarding job if you have a passion for playing and got to cherry pick your projects while working with artists that you admire. Plus, that all important flying under the radar of the media and any commitments ending with the culmination of any project.

*Additional: Another dream job would be an 'in-demand-F1-engineer' (Adrian Newey-esque). Well paid, travel the world and have all the resources at your deposal to play 'creationist' unhindered, only to wipe the slate clean at the start of the next season - it must be fantastic! Although, the 'buck-stops-with-you' element isn't that appealing but as it's a 'dream job' this wouldn't happen. Blame the team principal!

Not necessarily something I'd actually want to do mind but my dream job would be something on the cutting edge of research and development - treading ground no one has been before - but taking it to the extreme like remote arctic research station kind of thing (which is why I wouldn't necessarily actually want to do it but I kind of like the idea in concept).
I can relate to this - but came to the same conclusion while crafting my new vocations. Although, if i was 15 years younger, with less stress and responsibility etched into my forehead, i would have taken a job similar to this all day long - but perhaps with less of a psychological-crushing-remoteness theme :)
 
Soldato
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....
The modern day session player i was alluding to, in my pipe-dream-job, would be in the top 10 on producer's/bands speed dial list (for that instrument). They make obscene amounts of money - when breaking down their pay on individual projects - certainly enough to retire in comfort early if it lost its novelty.....

I don't think that exists. They seem to have very little creative freedom. But we all dream.
 
Caporegime
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Thread incoming 5yrs to Chopper Pilot! :D
Nah, it's a profession that's pretty much reserved for ex-military people.

As a civvy it costs about £100k to get qualified, and you're competing with ex-mils, some of whom just want to keep flying for fun.

Besides my eyesight is shot so I couldn't do it, except in my dreams (which is this thread, basically :p)
 
Soldato
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Dream Job was really to be military pilot, or just the military in general. But that ship sailed pretty early on.

I'm not sure what my dream job would be now. The Lockdown has further messed with my head. Today its probably testing high end exotic holidays.
 

fez

fez

Soldato
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Being an elite sportsman in any of the sports that pay a lot of money.

Think Lewis Hamilton, Ronaldo, any top basketball, baseball player etc.

Earn millions a year for 10-15 years, employ some people on the side to create your "brand" then retrire and do whatevery you want for the rest of your days.
 
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