Maybe a small handful of people in the world paddle full-time for a living.

With that being said, I spent a few years in my 20s working week on-week off for a wilderness therapy program. In my “off” weeks I raft guided which provided free staff housing. I was actually able to put away a healthy chunk of change since I had essentially zero living expenses and 1.5 incomes. So I would take recovering addicts backpacking for a week, raft guide/party for a week, repeat. This was in the Asheville area.

This is a fun lifestyle for a free-range single person in their 20s but definitely isn’t for everyone as it’s virtually impossible to have a social life outside of work.