Hello everyone,

I find myself in some sort of tricky situation. I'll try to be both brief and detailed about it but I cannot make promises.
I started my PhD last August in a University in country A [continent 1] that I chose only because my supervisor led me go for my own project (that I already wrote, on my own system with a lot of traveling and exciting real-world implications). Since I already had an interested supervisor from country B [continent 2], I managed to make this a joint-PhD. During the first semester, apart for the mandatory classes, I prepared everything I could for the fieldwork season (Jan-Jul 2015). This means that I wrote an "acceptable" proposal, found most of my committee members, applied for several "small" research grants (unfortunately without success) and planned more or less my every move during the fieldwork season.
A little background information is that neither travels nor research expenses are covered by the country A University (that provides my salary); the country B University had no financial involvement thus far.
Even with everything planned, as soon as I got to the fieldwork location, country C [continent 3] I realized the hard way (arm-robbed, twice, in 10 hrs) that this kind of work cannot (at least not safely) be carried out alone. This was quite heavy on me and I decided to leave and went back to my home, country D [continent 2] to reconsider (not fair towards my supervisors but it was an impulsive decision). Surprisingly for me, they offered me to go back and start over with a new project, that they suggested.
Now you know what happened, these are my thoughts:
- this supervisor is amazing, I've been working really well with him so far
- this new project has no fieldwork and the University is based in a dead place where, after "work", the most exciting thing you can do is cook your own meal
- this new project has no real-world implications,
- real world implications are what drove me to do research in the first place
- if I stick to this new project I would probably be able to keep the joint-PhD thing and have a very good CV at the end of the story
- in less than ten days I am expected to go back to country A and start this new project but, somehow, I really don't want to.
- I feel like I would waste time and burn our for a project that I don't like to begin with
- they are paying me, there is no telling if I would find another PhD position

If you need to know more about this, do not hesitate and ask
I'd appreciate any thought, suggestion or comment

thanks

Rospus, by now you've probably been made to decide what to do so it's not like I can advise you anything but... Are there really no real world implications in this new project? Maybe you would be able to connect it with some side activities that would somehow matter? Is there any possibility to slightly reorient this proposition made by your supervisor (s/he gave much freedom the first time so maybe there is a chance to readjust something now)?