the perfect job...and my road to Missoula

Some obvious facts:
I am a white male, grew up in a 2 parent home in white-christian-upper middle class suberbia, enjoy a stable family life, am proud owner of a college degree and truck of which I contributed nothing towards (monetarily) and have been given every advantage I could ask for.

So my life seems to go something like this (in a very crud and simplified model):
birth
childhood
school
college
job
adulthood?
family
retirement
death

So what happens when you arrive to the job part, and you receive an offer from a company that ties together your skills, passions and interests perfectly. They want to pay you a healthy salary, benefits, 10 weeks vacation, free personal travel home for Christmas, a 30 hr work week, a moving package complete with food vouchers, hotels and a resort condo, and finally commit to a long term endeavor. A commitment that can be summed up by a word I have come to fear.

lifer

They want me to put me on this road...the lifer road.

Its interesting what your 'dream job' looks like which you are in college, and then how much of a nightmare is can be when faced with all the realities it actually entails. For now, I am still a student of the Henry H. Lightcap theory. He said (loosely),

"Thoreau once said a man can live an entire year off 6 weeks hard work, but Thoreau didn't have to deal with the bills and garbage I am facing, so I intend to live off of 6 months hard work."

I'd rather work 8 months and life simply the other 4 months while traveling, hiking, touring and exploring than work 50 weeks a year and live comfortably with a plush savings account and 401k. I understand that at some point my responsibilities will catch up to me and force me to work more, but until then I fully intend to work hard, save, and then experience every bit of nature possible.

So I said no. No thanks. Maybe next year. Maybe.

Stupid? Maybe. Will I look back in 10 yrs, 20 yrs, or 30yrs and regret this decision or will I be looking back, smiling, and cherishing the months I was able to travel, spend time in Missoula with my sis (probably my new home for the next year) and family/friends elsewhere, and experience people and places I've never imagined.

I think the answer is obvious.