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I spent two winter seasons, 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, working as a ski instructor at Winter Park Resort. Adding the two seasons, I taught ski school for about 9 months. Assuming I finish my current contract with Carnival Cruises, I will have worked as a cruise ship musician also for about 9 months. I may one of the only people in the world in a position to compare these two professions from experience. And this is a service I provide to you, my friend, free of charge.

First, work in the ski and cruise industries is transient by nature. Every ski season ends, and eventually everyone leaves a cruise ship. I suppose every job in the world is eventually left when you consider the inevitability of death, but at most jobs that feeling is less immediate. A ski resort job is of course seasonal, and everyone leaves when the snow melts. On a cruise ship, the seasonal length of your contract is often different than your coworkers contract, so you're in a more unfortunate position of leaving at different times. On the ship, many conversations revolve around the questions of "how long have you been here" and "when are you going home," similar to discussions I imagine people have in prisons. Still, knowing that your job has a clear ending date is liberating, especially if you don't like your job. If you really want to get out, you can just wait out your time and leave the job cleanly--though that doesn't always happen.

Working as a ski instructor and working as a cruise ship musician both sound like "something fun to do for a little while but not forever," and you hear that a lot from people when you tell them your job. It's a true statement. I have met people in both industries who are lifers having spent ten years or more at their job, but of course they are all a little nuts. Besides there is little room for job promotion at either gig without leaving for another gig.

Both jobs are pursued by people who want to work doing what they love. At the start of these jobs, you can't help but have the giddy feeling that you're actually getting paid to ski or to play music. But as time goes on, you realize you're not doing exactly what you love--though it is similar. As a ski instructor, you spend much or your time on beginner slopes trying to stay as patient as possible with new skiers, while the best runs and best snow are out of reach while you're working... even on powder days. You have skis on so you're officially skiing, but you're not skiing freely the way you want to. The same is true with music on a ship. Right now, I get paid to play my guitar which is awesome. Still, although I have a guitar in my hands at work, I seldom get to play it the way I want to. All lot of the material we play is horrible, and the constant repetition of show can be aggravating and creatively gagging. A cruise ship musician is more a hired hand rather than a performing artist. So after a while on each gig, you feel like your job is a lot like what you love, but not it exactly.

The danger is that you stop loving what you what you loved. When I taught ski school, I didn't going skiing much on my days off. I avoided the resort on my days off, needing a break from the mountain. So since I didn't really ski at work and didn't going skiing during my time off, I didn't really ski very much. In the years since I stopped working for the resort, I have skied a lot more. Here on the ship we play every night, sometimes four shows or more. But I haven't been playing or writing music much outside of that. I'm still practicing a fair amount, but I'm not playing just to relax and enjoy myself like I used to. I haven't jammed with friends off the bandstand much like I used to, and I have a lot less of a desire to just sit and pick out tunes on my guitar. I need to leave this job before I lose much more of that feeling.

In conclusion, I think it is impossible to get paid to do what you love most. If you get paid to do what you love most, it turns that thing into something you love less and something else takes the position of what you love most. Just ask a hooker. Still, I don't think it's impossible to love your job.

Three is a Magic Number.

I'm sitting at a cafe called the Green House in St. Maarten. They have free wifi here and two for one drinks. I'm two Irish coffees and about two hours of surfing into the experience here. I'll probably spend the afternoon on the beach and then I have two shows to play tonight.

Tonight we're playing a show called "Singing with the Big Band." It's a tribute to music of Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Our band is on stage all night, so it's nice to be out of the orchestra pit. Last night we played a great show backing up Karen Grainger who is a singing impressionist. She's very talented, and refreshingly less cheesy than a lot of the stuff we back up. Here's her website if you're interested: www.karengrainger.com

I have eight more cruises to go after this one, which is not too much I suppose. The novelty of this gig is gone and the routine is firmly in gear. It's a good band though, and relatively good shows. I've decided that my career as a Carnival showband guitarist is over after this contract, barring some drastic experience. I've gotten what I want to get out of it, and I need to get to the next thing. I'm looking into different options for the future.

I'm reading a book called "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. It's an awesome travel book about hiking the Appalachian Trail. It's great because the heroes are completely bumbling disasters, instead the hot-shot outdoorsmen that you might expect from such a book.

I don't have any great adventures to report about yet. I'll let you know if something cool happens. Till then.