The author watching the sunset on Mt. Malo Spicje in the Julian Alps, Slovenia.I’m an adventure guide for an all-women’s travel company, which means I get to lead groups of incredible women on hiking, backpacking, surfing, rappelling, snorkelling and cultural trips around the world. I’ve gotten to hike the Inca Trail in Peru, snorkel in the Caribbean Sea and watch the sunrise over Petra in Jordan — all while getting paid. When I tell people what I do for work, they usually think I’m living the dream.But as I sit in my friend’s apartment between tours searching for my next house-sitting gig, she looks at me from across the couch and says, “I don’t know how you sleep at night.” I’m about to guide an international tour in Belize for three weeks, but I don’t even know where I’m going to live next week.And that is the nature of this lifestyle. My life is like a roller coaster — long, hard climbs where my stomach churns with anxiety and anticipation, followed by thrilling, heart-racing drops. Meanwhile, other people’s lives tend to be more like a merry-go-round — predictable, steady or at least smooth enough to enjoy an ice cream cone while they wait for the next rotation.