Re: the backcountry, I've used the phrase "bushwhacking" to refer to the same circumstances of developing an unconventional career path. I've used the metaphor to make sense of the lack of societal validation when you're doing something new. That lack of validation used to scare me a lot. Then I realized, how can I expect others to know if I'm clearing the right square of brush? They can't because they aren't there confronting the thorns and fruits. The only person whose taste I can trust is my own. The lack of external validation shouldn't be taken as a signal to not venture. Everybody else back at basecamp (or frontcountry/ski chalet in your metaphor) won't be able to validate your path until you validate it yourself, by clearing the path, removing the boulders and roots, writing a beautiful brochure about it, and sending it back for their perusal. Hence the importance and the difficulty of learning how to tell the story.
Re: the backcountry, I've used the phrase "bushwhacking" to refer to the same circumstances of developing an unconventional career path. I've used the metaphor to make sense of the lack of societal validation when you're doing something new. That lack of validation used to scare me a lot. Then I realized, how can I expect others to know if I'm clearing the right square of brush? They can't because they aren't there confronting the thorns and fruits. The only person whose taste I can trust is my own. The lack of external validation shouldn't be taken as a signal to not venture. Everybody else back at basecamp (or frontcountry/ski chalet in your metaphor) won't be able to validate your path until you validate it yourself, by clearing the path, removing the boulders and roots, writing a beautiful brochure about it, and sending it back for their perusal. Hence the importance and the difficulty of learning how to tell the story.