# Trying to Think of Jobs or Activities That Will Take One Away Form Civilization. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 11, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928 "2008-04-11T19:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nobody\_Special](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nobody\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody_Special)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/1 "2008-04-11T19:07:55Z")
I’m working on a project and need to come up with a list of jobs or activities that will take one away from civilization for a long period of time. So far I have submarine captain, arctic scientist, bio-dome participant, space station astronaut, prison inmate and oil-rig worker. Could anyone suggest anything else? ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/2 "2008-04-11T19:47:45Z")
Winter caretaker at a hotel. Although I can’t seem to find any real-life instances of this being a job. Just _the Shining_. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/3 "2008-04-11T19:53:28Z")
Fire tower watcher. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/4 "2008-04-11T19:54:11Z")
There are some very, remote fire towers in places like large national parks and Alaska that are sometimes manned and lived in. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/5 "2008-04-11T19:59:57Z")
Field biologist. I’ve worked for a month or more at sites that were pretty remote, and people working on long-term projects can be out there for many months on end. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/6 "2008-04-11T20:05:39Z")
What is your ball park criteria for civilization and long period of time. Merchant sailors can be at sea for weeks on end, people working on seismic surveying vessels or seismic land crews can be out in the wilds for a fair bit of time. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/7 "2008-04-11T20:52:50Z")
[QUOTE=Engineer Dude] Winter caretaker at a hotel. Although I can’t seem to find any real-life instances of this being a job. Just _the Shining_. [/QUOTE] Maybe not winter caretaker, but there are lodges in the mountains up here that the only way to get to is to hike in. There are people who live there year round, taking care of it as well as helping the people who hike up there. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/8 "2008-04-11T20:59:37Z")
Rich, excentric recluse. Relgious recluse, like a nun or monk. We once had a total recluse managing our rooming house. We had to bring him food and clothing because he would not go outside. He only had a phone to contact us. He was the best damn manager we ever had. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/9 "2008-04-11T21:04:17Z")
Chimp watcher. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/10 "2008-04-11T21:13:45Z")
Fishermen, although they have each other. There are some people who sail around the world by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/11 "2008-04-12T01:12:36Z")
A hermit! It’s really in the job description. > [@](#): > > Looking for an escape from the hectic pace of 18th-century living? A seven-year contract is being offered by Lord and Lady Posh for a human garden gnome, to ornament their newly landscaped gardens at Hobnob Manor. > > . . . > > The job offers the chance for peace and tranquillity on a scale previously only dreamed of, or perhaps only found in the isolation wings of asylums and prisons. The daily grind of washing and shaving will be a distant memory as you allow your beard to grow and your body takes on the odour of a sweating pig, all within your very own cave. Now then, men, what could be better? Taken from the “Worst Jobs in History” [site](http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/W/worstjobs/georgian.html). Basically, it was fashionable in the Georgian period (1714-1837) to have a guy live in a cave or in a specially built (and usually aesthetically rustic) building on your property, to lend a romantic air to the place. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/12 "2008-04-12T01:41:53Z")
That guy who they thought had the drug resistant TB – you could get the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/13 "2008-04-12T01:50:33Z")
AIUI, there are scientists who spend months at a time in the Austrailian Outback hunting for meteorites. Lighthouse keeper is an obsolete profession that did just what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Myself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Myself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myself)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/14 "2008-04-12T02:25:29Z")
We had a night cleaner for the kitchen at a resort hotel I worked at in the mid-80s. He had as little contact with people as anyone I’ve known–just a few grudging minutes at the start of his shift. Everyone knew better than to try and start a casual conversation with him. He had been a prospector for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/15 "2008-04-12T02:27:48Z")
Bear impersonator. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/16 "2008-04-12T02:49:18Z")
There’s a guy who’s attempting the first ever known [northern inland traversal of Ontario by canoe](http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/413476). He starts as soon as the northern ice melts, and hopes to finish before the ice returns in November. He expects to cross several stretches of more than 30 days without seeing anyone else, and to pass through areas that have not been visited in centuries, since the days of the fur trade. Maybe you could go up there. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/17 "2008-04-12T03:32:34Z")
Shut-in. Drunk is a plus. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/18 "2008-04-12T04:13:48Z")
Work winters at the [Mount Washington Observatory](http://www.mountwashington.org/about/jobs/) in New Hampshire. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/19 "2008-04-12T13:42:38Z")
Field geologist in Namibia & Botswana. Live out of your 4x4, see no-one else for weeks at a time, and then it’s some shithole of a service station with a goat and no women. In the office only every 3-4 months. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928/20 "2008-04-12T13:46:12Z")
[QUOTE=susan] Shut-in. Drunk is a plus. [/QUOTE] This has been my dark path as of late. As for a “job” to take you away from civilization? I would think McDonalds or maybe WalMart. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trying-to-think-of-jobs-or-activities-that-will-take-one-away-form-civilization/444928.md?page=2)