Sometimes I wonder whether I made the wrong choice to get into academia. Now that I have been spending a few days planting trees instead, I get reminded once more that there is a sense of satisfaction after a long day of physical work that has no real equivalent in a desk job. The getting into a rhythm of repetition, the sense of visible progress, and the feeling of relaxed exhaustion in the evening. Something to be appreciated, for sure!

Then again, it might well be the case that the positive valence comes purely from the contrast to everyday life. Probably I would quickly get fed up, if I had to do boring physical work day in and day out.