After the constant bitching and back stabbing, hairy old men in sandles and socks....I am desperate to get away from academia for a few years. I really really want an EXTREME job or experience....something like working for the british antarctic survey, RAF, well something along those lines but struggling to come up with suggestions which would allow me to encompass a bit of science/stats. Any suggestions welcome please. I really NEED TO LIVE before resigning myself to academic drudgery!!!!!

I looked into doing research on tracking big cats in Africa, you can do it with gap year companies for about £1000 for a few months - not sure if its what you were looking for but I really wanted to do it.

I think that would be a great idea. I worked overseas (Africa/ME) for most of a decade. NGOs/development agencies are always in need of people with specialist skills to help with overseas projects and train local people. There also teaching opportunites - including VSO. I have several friends who were science teachers in rural Africa - definitley an extreme job experience!

http://www.vso.org.uk/

http://www.dev-zone.org/jobs/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-governmental_organization