Is Work Camping Right For You?

So we are camping at Piney Campground in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and this absolute crazy thing happened when we came in the gate. She's done it again. I've done it again. We're work campers! Yay! I've always wanted to be a work camper and Danny wouldn't let me. Well I've always said if we needed to then it's always there. But anyways we were coming in and as we were coming in the gate there were some work campers there and I was talking to them and there was a ranger there and he hired us. As it turns out they need someone to work at the camp store here in the park on Wednesdays. So that's going to be our job. I'm the boss of the place and he's my assistant. Did Rick say that? I think Rick said that. I think Rick said that I could be the boss and you had to be the assistant. Okay. Okay so that's all cleared up. So we thought we would take you all along with us as we do through this one month. We're only going to work one day a week which works out great because I don't like getting up. So one day a week on Wednesdays we're going to work at the camp store. Yeah they just needed one day to work and what they did in exchange? Yes in exchange for that we get to stay down here at the campground the entire month of November and we don't get any pay for working but we get our campsite for free. So I figured this is a way to help her figure out whether she likes work camping or not. Yeah I think I'm gonna love it. It's gonna be fun. I'll get to talk to everybody. She's been training her whole life for this. Been training my whole life for this. So join us as we take our journey into work camping. Excited? Almost. Almost? We'll start our work camping job. So we thought we would share with you exactly what work camping is along with some of our experiences. So guys this is Naomi. She is my trainer and let me tell you she's done a great job because I am thoroughly trained and ready for this job and ready to roll. We hope. We'll see. So first let's talk about exactly what is a work camper. Well a work camper is a person who lives in their RV and travels around the country based on where they can find employment. Now their employment is typically at a campground. In exchange for them coming and working like we did here in the camp store we get our site for free. Sometimes they get their sites for free and sometimes they even get a little paycheck to go along with it. It all depends on what agreement that they've reached. We're only going to be here for a month. Our benefit is the site for free and being able to do our laundry here in the shop in the store. So work camping is really a great way to cut costs as you're traveling because campsites are just astronomical right now and you can save a lot of money by working. I get to use the washer and dryer that's in the store. So today's laundry day while I'm working. Hello. Can you do laundry? She is going to do laundry. Is that okay? Yes. So how do you find work camping jobs? Many campgrounds and other businesses that hire work campers advertise months and months in advance. I'm going to list several sites, websites that you can use. I'll put them on the screen that will tell you where to go and look for jobs. But they post them months in advance. So the ideal is saying where do I want to be in the summer? You might start applying in the winter for summer jobs. You might apply for winter jobs in the summer. And what we always suggest is try to chase that 70 degree weather. That way you're working in an area that's you're not in the deep south during the summer or up north during the winter. So you may ask what does a work camper do? Well we are in the camp store. Our main job is to take care of the customers, check them out, get them firewood, whatever they need. During our downtime we'll go around and straighten up the shelves. As you can see right now we're pretty slow. They're fixing the clothes for the season so it's just really slow. Piney is a really large campground. There's almost 400 sites here. So they have a lot of different work campers that do a lot of different things. There are gate people, there are maintenance people, there are cleaners, reservation people. Piney has a lot of different work camping jobs. So Danny and I were able to work together at this job working in the store. But you may go to a different campground and they may split the husband and wife up. The wife may work in the store and the guy may go do the maintenance. It's all a matter of what is needed along with how large that campground is. Where this one has people that just have specific jobs for everything, a smaller campground you're going to do a lot more tasks in different areas than what you do here. So a work camping is just a job like any other job. So are there jobs other than campgrounds? I'm glad you asked. You might have read about amusement parks, the sugar beet in North Dakota and other states where you can check those out. Seasonal jobs such as Christmas tree yards and such as pumpkin patches. So there are other jobs that you can do to help you get around and maybe they're a little bit shorter that you can hop around the country a little bit quicker. So another thing we would tell you to make sure you check are the required hours for those campgrounds. Some are going to say 10 hours a week for a couple each working 10 hours and you get the campground. Some are going to say you got to work 32 to 40 hours. We would not want to do that. We'd probably want to work between the 10 and the 20 hours a week but each job is going to have a different requirement. So always check that out. Okay Danny let's be honest you don't want to work at all. I've already done a lot of work. So it is the slow season here right now. The families have all gone home for the season. It's November and the only people coming in and out are the hunters. So not a lot going on. So we already kind of alluded to this before but what is the main reason people work camp? The main reason is to save money. Think about how expensive carving has gotten with the cost of gas and campground sites have gone out of the roof. So if you're a work camper you're able to get to one place stay a little bit longer so you're saving on your gas money and number two you're getting a campsite usually you're getting it for free. So you've cut your cost way down and this is great we've talked to people that said hey I don't think I can retire early like you and Lynn did. I don't even know if I'm gonna be retired at 62. This is a way if you're in that situation this is a way for you to say hey I can retire I can travel and I can do it by work camping at different campgrounds and other businesses. Is work camping right for you? What we suggest is treat it like any other job. Decide whether the type of work that you're looking at is something you can deal with. Now what we suggest is make sure you get a contract that lists the hours you're going to work the benefits such as a campsite or other amenities that you might get. So make sure you have that in writing in the contract. So Danny it's been a whole month. Today is our last day. Would you do it again? Yes, but it had to be the right situation. Everything every situation is different for each person. Yeah we like to move you know we might say somewhere two weeks three weeks we can stay a month in Glacier last summer. But rarely will we ever stay a month anywhere. Right so when you're thinking about work camping normally it's for season it might be three months it may even be up to six months. Most of the people have been here since April since they opened and they stay until they close which is the end of November. So campground shuts down. Right so right now I'm not wanting to slow down enough to take a work camping job for three to six months. But we have told the ranger here that if you need somebody for a short short-term basis we'll be glad to come down and help. We've got some issues at home so we're going to be home a little bit longer than we normally are. So we'd love to get back out here early spring next year or when we're when we're in the area. So would you do it again? I would definitely do it again. I've had a lot of fun doing it. Got to meet some new people that I didn't know before. Made some new friends. I like making friends. I always say I collect friends because I just really like people. And it was it was just fun and it was fun hanging out in the store and meeting the people when they come in. I've done quick marks before my young young days worked there but I wish it would have been a little busier because these last two weeks it has been like really really slow. Behind the campground at the land between the lakes in Dover Tennessee if you come in the summer it is busy busy busy busy. Right now in November slow because all we're probably getting is some fishermen I'm sorry some hunters. Yeah the hunters are here they're about all that's here right now is the hunters. And that's very few and far between so we've got a taste of it but we didn't get the taste of the highway. I would do it again if we're in a campground if we're in your area and you want us to stay for a month but a month's about as long as I want to stay in one place really truly at this point you know maybe later later in life. So until next time God bless and many many safe travels. And go RV America!