A little career letter
Find Your Flow
find what moves you, one small step at a time
Vol. 14 · Saturday, June 27
Start here · the headline
Adventure guide
You take people into the outdoors and give them a day they remember: rivers, trails, peaks. Active, social, and the opposite of a desk. No degree, and most outfitters teach you themselves and hire you for the season. It is built for someone who loves the mountains and loves people.
The apply-today lane
Tour & sightseeing guide
The fastest way in, and you can start now. Small-group van and walking tours run to Rocky Mountain National Park, Red Rocks, and the foothills all summer. You drive and tell the stories. No special license needed when the van seats fewer than 16, and your outgoing energy is the whole job.
The dream-summer lane
Whitewater rafting guide
Colorado outfitters run their own guide schools, many of them free if you guide for them after, and they hire you for the summer. You learn to read water, run the boat, and lead the crew down the canyon. Hard, fun, outside, and the tips on a good trip are real.
The winter lane
Ski & snowboard instructor
Flip the calendar: when the rivers freeze, the resorts hire. They train you to teach and certify you on the job, and you get a free season pass and perks on top of pay. It is fitness plus people plus a lift ticket every day, and it slots right in after the summer season ends.
The lifestyle
Portable, year-round, yours
Here is the life part: string the seasons together, rivers in summer, slopes in winter, and you have a year. Better yet, this skill set travels. Guides work national parks, resorts, and outfitters all over the country and abroad. A license-free way to get paid to be outside, wherever you want to be.
« swipe through the slides »
How to get qualified (the real path)
Good news: no degree, and usually no school you pay for. For rafting, Colorado’s minimum is about 50 hours of on-river training plus First Aid and CPR, and the outfitters teach all of it in their own guide school, many for free if you guide for them afterward. You just have to be 18.
The free option that hires you: Colorado Adventure Center in Idaho Springs (about an hour from home) runs a free raft-guide training program, includes your First Aid and CPR, even offers low-cost camping during training, and hires you for the season when you finish.
Colorado Adventure Center · guide jobs & free training ›Another open guide school: Mild to Wild Rafting runs guide-training courses (Durango, Buena Vista, Idaho Springs) open to anyone 18-plus looking to guide for them this season.
Mild to Wild raft-guide training ›The smart move: apply to a spring guide school now so you are on a crew when the rivers come up, and in the fall apply to a resort to teach skiing for the winter. Two seasons, one year.
A real job, apply now, no experience
Raft Guide Trainee, Colorado Adventure Center
No experience needed. They teach you to guide from scratch, cover your First Aid and CPR, and offer low-cost camping on their property while you train. Finish their program and you are hired for the 2026 season. It is the cleanest way in: you learn for free and walk out with a job and a brand-new skill. Apply on their employment page.
See the guide jobs ›You do not have to map your whole life today. One step, emailing one outfitter about their spring guide school, moves you forward more than a week of thinking about it. Small steps are still steps.
Made with love, just for you. Reply any time and we will chase down whatever sparks your interest. xo