Overseas travel, even when undertaken as part of the "world's greatest job", is always a test of one's ability for adaptation and compromise.
Despite Kiwi lads Kaleb Anderson and Ben Mikha beating out tens-of-thousands of entrants to be the past two recipients of the Discovery Channel's coveted Asia Pacific internship program, there were moments on their free round the world jaunt when a cruel and capricious world reared it head.
Case in point, Ben stepping off the plane in Iceland in near freezing temperature and an airport baggage claim conveyor belt that never produced his luggage.
He spent the next week in a Nordic hotel bathrobe, playing up the wardrobe inconvenience for the benefit of the photo based travel blog he had to maintain for Discovery.
"All the gear was in that bag and they were wanting Iceland stuff [Discovery Channel content]," Ben laughs.
"So I did like the entire Iceland trip in a hotel bathrobe.
"I went everywhere, I went hiking, I went out to plane crash sites, I went up the canyons and I did it all in a bathrobe."
In 2018, the two month Discovery internship takes in Sydney, Japan, USA, Germany, South Africa and Croatia and involves visiting a number of the cable TV giant's overseas headquarters.
View this post on InstagramIlluminating the world with a passionate fire inside!! 🔥 #Over16 #F1PhotoComp2018
A post shared by Kaleb Anderson (@adventuringkiwi) on
During the journey, the intern is expected to document their interaction with the surrounding environment and culture via 10 daily photos and three blog posts a week - incorporating regular video.
Even though he has only undertaken a small section of this 2018 internship so far, Kaleb, like 2017 intern Ben, knows amid all the fun he will face dramatic climate, culture and cuisine challenges.
"Prior to this year I hadn't actually done any international travel so every experience this year has been completely blowing my mind really," Kaleb said.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Kaleb Anderson (@adventuringkiwi) on
Not technically part of his Discovery Internship, Kaleb nevertheless found his first foray into Asia with a trip to Thailand and Cambodia this year a rude, but welcome, awakening.
"Life is completely different there, it's too hot to do anything during the day and everyone comes out at night to sell stuff," he says.
"You go out during the day and everyone's just dripping.
"I was kind of practicing being able to provide the content that I'm going be needing to provide for Discovery on this larger trip. Even Sydney was completely amazing for me, being only around New Zealand for most of my life.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ben Mikha 🐺 (@benmikha) on
"I got my passport literally a few weeks before seeing the Discovery thing, and I thought 'this would be awesome if I got that'. The Thailand and Cambodia trip just confirmed it for me."
For Ben in particular, his intern experience across Singapore, the US, Italy, Iceland and the UK directly changed the course of his life.
After he returned from his 2017 internship, Ben found himself unwilling to continue on in his old job.
"Having got a taste for what it was like to be creating full time, made me take the leap of faith after I finished the internship," Ben says.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Ben Mikha 🐺 (@benmikha) on
"I was a flight attendant at the time and I left that job to pursue videography and photography full time, because I was inspired after that trip.
"Flight attending had a lot of travel in it anyway but I just couldn't do anything different from what I'm doing right now."
Ben now runs his own film production business full-time under his own name: Ben Mikha Ltd.
He also says the opportunity to pick the brains of Discovery Channel big wigs at various TV headquarters was a enlightening experience.
"It was awesome, it makes you appreciate how much work goes into media behind the scenes, seeing other creators at work."
The Discovery Channel's free overseas internship holiday, providing a foot-in-the-door to a career in travel film production, is undoubtedly a pretty sweet gig. But a new contender for the world's most privileged employment has emerged of a more lethargic and sedentary kind.
A luxury resort on the tropical island nation of the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, has placed a job ad for a bookseller.
The role at the $2,000 a night Soneva Fushi resort, asks for a three-month commitment from the successful candidate, and like Discovery, a blog on the life of a desert island bookseller must be kept.
The pay for the role has been described by bookshop owner Philip Blackwell as "derisory" but with "fringe benefits unparalleled".
The resort accommodation the bookseller will enjoy is sold as a"playful deserted-island mansion", with swimming pool, spa, sauna and steam room.
There is also the likely chance you will be mingling with A-list celebrities according to past guest stays at Soneva Fushi.
However, the role requires the bookseller to entertain children with storytelling and host courses on creative writing to sunburnt tourists drunk on tequila.
Every job truly does have its downside.
The chef chats to Herald Travel about unforgettable foodie experiences in Aotearoa.