For people like Daniel Becroft, this provides the flexibility to find a career that fits in with his lifestyle.

As a lover of the great outdoors, 45-year-old Daniel could think of nothing better than to be out on the gold fields looking for treasure.

Unfortunately, he never found enough gold to make ends meet and often had to take on odd jobs to enhance his income.

For most of his adult life, Daniel has worked as an unskilled labourer doing everything from packing supermarket shelves to manual labour to sustain his love of prospecting, but a conversation with a North Coast TAFE representative gave him a great idea about tailoring a job to suit his lifestyle.

"I heard about an introductory barbering course that ran for six months and I thought, 'I could do this as well as prospecting' and I signed up straight away," he explained.

"I needed a career choice that would allow me to travel, but something that I could do in remote towns with small populations and barbering fit the bill perfectly."

Although he initially thought barbering looked easy, Daniel finds the work challenging and stimulating.

"I had never even cut hair before and now I'm learning to shave heads, trim beards, style moustaches and do women's cuts as well as men's.

"There's never a dull moment, as my clients usually have a great story or life experience.

"You meet some interesting characters in this line of work too," he said.

Although he usually can't resist the call of his metal detector, Daniel is looking forward to one day settling down to open his own barber shop or maybe a mobile service for elderly clients.

"The great thing about barbering is that it is a transferable skill and one that I can take with me where ever I go," Daniel said.

"I'm sure there are plenty of grey nomads out there, like me, who would appreciate a quick trim in the great outdoors."