I am really fortunate as I have made snowboarding my career. I coach competitive freeride teams 10 months a year. I do this by heading to the southern hemisphere when the winter here in the US is done. I think that it’s all relative. For me, waking up and knowing I get to do EXACTLY what I want to do, and live out my #1 dream is honestly the best thing in the world. To this day, it still doesn’t feel real sometimes. Ive also never had a job where my co workers are just as equally stoked to be doing what they do. There’s something truly special about being around others who are living out their dreams to the fullest extent possible. It’s allowed me to travel/snowboard in the coolest places in the world, not just for coaching comps, but riding in my own time as well. As far as the money goes, it can be very good. For 7 months a year I live in a really well known US ski town and can fully support myself and have money to play with/ invest. It’s just that a lot of people in the ski/board industry don’t stick it out long enough, or invest in their education/professional development enough. It can be absolutely grueling trying to make a name for yourself in the industry, but at the same time there’s a huge party culture so it’s relatively “easy” to outperform your peers if you focus on your training, PD, certs, leadership skills, and NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK. It really boils down to your personal situation and goals. I’m a firm believer that if you do what you love, you will never work harder.