10 jobs that are so much better than what you did today

How was your day? Boring as hell? Achieved nothing that you actually care about? Flicked between Facebook and the Daily Mail for the majority of your time? I recently heard a friend say that he “lived to work and worked to live”, which was genuinely one of the most depressing things I’ve heard someone say in a long, long time. Disturbingly, said friend is definitely not alone: a vast 80% of people are said to be dissatisfied with their jobs and the average person spends 90,000 hours at their desk in their lifetime. That’s a lot of hours to spend miserable.

Yes, the daily grind exists, but it doesn’t have to exist in the way that so many people let play out on their facial expression when they get on the Tube at 8am every morning. For these guys, that face doesn’t exist – because they have the coolest jobs in the world.

(Photo: Face Africa)

We’re all guilty of sitting at our desk thinking very hard about the furthest place we can get from the place we’re sitting, and at times like those Africa seems like the perfect place to be. Can you imagine being paid to live in a place like Africa, one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and spending your day-to-day driving visitors around to get up close and personal with some of the most incredible creatures on earth? That’s what these guys do. Day in, day out.

(Photo: EZ Greece)

Having a job like this in a place such as Santorini or the Caribbean is actually something I would give my right arm to do. The guys who do this job are some of the most passionate and enthusiastic people in the world and are genuinely interested in deep sea life. Imagine a 9-5 that consists of living in one of the most beautiful places in the world and getting under the sea with the everything and anything that exists under there…

(Photo: Jay Alvarrez Vimeo)

Yes, this exists as a job and no, it’s not (always) people with too much money and no ambition for a real job. People actually get paid to visit exclusive islands, stay in the world’s best hotels and eat at the most sought-after restaurants – all in return for a social media post, article or video about said place. Not bad…

(Photo: Kognito)

Yup, this also genuinely exists. Someone needs to test the Lego after it’s made and be sure that it’s all in working order and sellable, and you can actually get paid to do that. It’s competitive and you have to become a Certified Lego Professional – but surely it’s worth it.

(Photo: Qualia)

It’s hard to believe that someone would actually get paid to do this, but there’s proof. English born and bred Ben Southall was the lucky gentleman who beat 35,000 other applicants to a £70,000 six-month job that would entail him swimming, sunbathing and living for free on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – just to write a blog and raise publicity for the area.

(Photo: Ferrari)

CNBC recently reported that Michael Massini gets paid to travel around the world to Ferrari shop for multi-millionaires. His day-to-day consists of checking out classic supercars and test driving them to make sure that they are suitable before they fall into the hands of said millionaire. Yes this is a job. And yes, you could do it too.

(Photo: VIP Completion)

This is as cool as it sounds. Eric Roth is the CEO of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., a company that specialises in customising private jet interiors for some of the richest people on the planet – clients range from Hollywood royalty to Middle Eastern sheiks.

(Photo: Gourmet)

While we’re not saying that this is an easy job to do, it’s definitely an awesome one. A food stylist’s day consists of preparing and literally styling food for a photoshoot or an advert. Those MacDonalds adverts? Someone sweats blood and tears over making that look delicious for you. The KFC billboards? I have it on good authority that one KFC chicken burger can take up to a week to photograph…

(Photo: The Green Hornet)

Imagine spending your days working alongside the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy and Daniel Craig and basically taking all of their punches, explosions and hits for them. A stunt man working on a Hollywood movie can earn seriously good cash, too – reportedly $100,000 a year.

(Photo: Take Tours)

This might seem like an odd addition to the list, but imagine scaling some of the coolest and highest buildings in the world (the Gherkin and The Empire State Building instantly spring to mind) and getting paid to see sights that thousands of people a week pay to see…

Main image: Down Under Endevours // Featured image: Eagles Palace