My impression is that you've been sold a bill of goods. A job that is tangible, that does good in the world, that allows you to continue to grow, that is interesting, and that provides autonomy? And that presumably allows you time off to travel and pursue your other interests? Doesn't exist -- and if it did, it would pay peanuts, because there would be SO many people clamoring to do it. So you need some priorities: since you can't have everything, rank your various desires, and then focus on career paths that meet the top couple.
You have a degree in economics, so you know how the laws of supply and demand work. The way people make money is usually (1) by having a particular talent that is highly valued by people with money, and working their ass off to develop that talent to the maximum extent possible, or (2) by being able to tolerate/handle some difficult/annoying job that needs to be done. For (1), think pro athlete; for (2), think of the guy who made millions by founding a trash collection company. So: what skill do you have that is better than your competition -- what advantage can you offer that makes you valuable to an employer? And/or what can you do that others find either impossible or impossibly dull?
The other aspect of this is that almost all career paths suck rocks when you are at the bottom of the totem pole. But you have to suck it up and work your ass off in order to develop your skills and flesh out your weaknesses. I am hearing a lot of impatience here -- try something, oops, it doesn't meet one of my criteria right out of the gate, move on to something else. That's not the way things work. No one is going to spot your fantastic potential as a new hire and give you all of the fun work and development opportunities you crave; you need to deal with the scut work while you prove yourself, so they will trust you with more fun and challenging stuff. So focus on what the work might be in 5 years, not what it is right now.
Finally, do not believe you have to satisfy all of your life's goals through your job. Some people do, and that's great. But for many others, the job is something to pay the bills while they pursue their passions in other areas. I get the feeling you fall into the latter category. So focus your career search on efficiency: what can give you the highest pay for the least time/effort? So, for example, I am not a fan of option 3 -- you might need to suck it up and take whatever work you can for a few years to get out from under the debt, but the problem with that is you end up exhausting yourself running around at scut jobs just to pay the bills, and you don't have free time to enjoy yourself or develop the skills that might bring you a better, higher-paying job. Long-term, you're much better off with a job that pays you more per hour, because that gives you more time to do more fulfilling things.
To give you a little context: I never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. As in, senior year of college most available jobs sounded boring, so went to law school. Loved law school (intellectual challenge), but most types of practice sounded either boring or impossible to do and still have a life, so figured I'd go start with a big firm so I could rotate if I didn't like my first option (Rule #1, when you have various choices, start with the one that pays a buttload of money, because you can always drop down if you don't like it). Ended up in a geeky complex regulatory area, and it turned out I liked it, but then figured I'd go work for a nonprofit in a few years to do good in the world. But after a few years, I was surprised to discover that my big corporate clients were not actually out to rape and pillage -- they were normal people just like me, and they just wanted to understand what they needed to do to comply. So I stayed. Were there times that were boring and hard? Oh, hell yes. Honestly, being an associate kinda sucks, because you have to work your ass off, and you are always subject to someone else's schedule, and you don't always get the big view. OTOH, being a partner kinda rocks. I'm still subject to someone else's schedule, but now it's my client's schedule, and I am actually in charge of figuring out how to solve their problem, which to me is the fun part, because it's both challenging and satisfying -- and best of all, when I need some kind of boring research or document review, I have associates I can outsource that kind of thing to. ;-) And, yeah, there are days it's still boring, because it's still a job, not a vacation. But overall, it still beats anything else I can think of -- certainly on a dollars-per-unit-of-effort basis.
The reason I say all of this is because I got to the happy point only by sucking it up and throwing myself into the job even when I wasn't sure that was what I wanted. I had certain advantages going in: I'm smart, I write very well, and I have the ability to actually enjoy something that normal people find intolerable (regulatory interpretation). That was enough to get me through the door into a well-paying career. But it wasn't enough to get me where I am today; I had to get past my preconceived notions (companies are evil!), learn to deal with some boring shit that I would happily never do again, and work my ass off to prove my worth -- including both improving my innate skills and getting a whole lot better at the things I naturally suck at (attention to detail, communicating effectively with more linear thinkers). Basically, you have to stay in one area long enough to develop both your skills and your boss' trust in those skills, because that is what opens the door to the more fun -- and more lucrative -- stuff.
So, in short: Option 2. But don't just choose "sensible" in terms of "stable and pays enough." Choose something that uses your brain, where the people above you do more interesting stuff that you can see yourself doing in a few years (without dying of boredom). It doesn't need to be forever -- that's the brilliance of MMM, you only need to work for 10-15 years or so, depending on how much you can cut expenses and save. So focus on "what can I see myself doing for 10 years," not "if I'm still doing this when I'm 50, I'll shoot myself." Oh, and for the love of Pete, don't go back to school unless/until (i) you have been working in an area long enough to know that it's what you want to do, (ii) you cannot continue to move up without a specific degree, (iii) the work you will be able to do with the degree is worth both the cost of the degree and the additional time you will need to continue working to pay for that degree, and (iv) you have your current debt paid off.
And btw, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. But it's been a pretty decent ride all told.
