The New York Times had a story this weekend about professionals who decided to make lemonade out of the lemons of their unemployment — they moved to Colorado to work hourly wage jobs on the slopes:

AMONG the skiers hitting the fabled slopes of Aspen this winter, you will find an investment banker, an information technology specialist and an international marketing manager.
But since the recession hit, they have all been working under slightly different titles: ski school lesson salesman, chairlift monitor and waitress at a vegetarian restaurant, respectively.
“If you’re just looking and living on unemployment and you’re just depressed, you should definitely move out here,” said Blake Robinson, 28, the former information technology worker, who was laid off by Netflix in Portland, Ore.

Several of the people interviewed will admit it’s not their ideal lifestyle — the pay is pretty bad and it’s tough on their egos to come down from a professional job to taking tickets or waiting tables.
But instead of stagnating, sending out a sea of resumes and getting nowhere, they decided to take a different approach. What’s worse: unemployment in the real world or poverty and all the free skiing you can squeeze in?
When you lose your job, you have more time than money. In 2001, I used that gift of time to be with my mom while she was dying of cancer. Not as fun as skiing in Aspen, but profoundly life changing.
If you’re single, or have a mate who is flexible, maybe unemployment also frees you to make a move you wouldn’t have otherwise.
If you are or have been unemployed, did you decide to use it as an opportunity to do something totally different? Travel, write a book, go back to school, work at a resort?