Work Camping

[ladylapidary]

Anyone out there want to share experiences and advice about work camping?

[jarnocan]

might like to try it some day. I've talked to a few folks- know there are some ups and downs. My in laws did it a few times, and mostly liked it.
River Camp on the New River in NC has work campers, some said they work very hard but others seem to enjoy the place.
Anyone have some good work camp links?

[dewcar]

We are going to try it for the first time in may.I signed up at KOA . com. We wanted to be in Michigan and got a call from Gaylord Mi.KOA.I will work 30 hours a week for a full hook-up site.This sound like a lot of hours but the site goes for $38 dollars a night.The owners seem very nice and I think I will have fun working there.

[nuttyfabes]

if you want to work for a site that is okay but there are a lot of campground jobs where you can be paid for all hours worked plus get your site free.

we have been workampers for 10 yrs. and have enjoyed almost all our jobs. great way to spend time in an area that you want to explore plus make new lifelong friends

[ladylapidary]

nuttyfabes email me and I will send pictures of the trip and would like to talk to you about work camping. ladylapidary@gmail.com

[jndwilli]

My husband and I are getting ready to go back to workcamping. We started it back in 1998 and loved every minute of it. Met lots of nice people, life long friends and got to see lots of the country. We only work in parks that give a free site plus hourly wage. We are still young enough that we need to earn a salary too. If you subscribe to the workcamper news you will find jobs all over the country, some for site only, some with site and hourly rate.
Good Luck and enjoy your jobs, you willl have lots of fun.

[marty]

We have done Workaming and our number one suggestion to you is
BE SURE YOU ARE ALL ON THE SAME WAVE LENGTH>>>HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTNDING OF WHAT IS EXPECTED AND THE PAY
We have seen some bad situations in this.We know some folks that will not work with out a contract.
We loved it but was sure we all understood each other

[anioki]

I have had great success by using www.coolworks.com. Many parks like Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Mesa Verde, have RV areas for Employees. I choose to work for the concessionaires, but this site also offers info on volunteer opportunites....my fav is Grand Teton Lodge Company, having worked at Jackson Lake Lodge four seasons, RV area is at Colter Bay. Happy Trails...

[donbar]

We have been workamping for three years now, only worked one campground during this timeline. We have enjoyed all the work we have taken on so far and making friends with many other workampers. We will be heading for S.D. in a few weeks for the sumemr season as hotel registration, something new to us. With the high cost of fuel, it helps to continue the travels on the road and make new friends on the same venue.

I have not checked our coolworks yet but www.workamper.com is where we have been offered our positions from.

[sirbill]

My friends are trying it for the first time and say they love it so far. They left Florida just before spring break and not coming back until September. Check out KOA work campers and inquire.

[bukhrn]

Anyone know if there is like, short term workamping, like a couple weeks or even a month then move on, I wouldn,t mind trying it, but I just don't see me being tied down to one place for a whole season.

[annjacoby]

if you want to work for a site that is okay but there are a lot of campground jobs where you can be paid for all hours worked plus get your site free.

we have been workampers for 10 yrs. and have enjoyed almost all our jobs. great way to spend time in an area that you want to explore plus make new lifelong friends

do you have any good websites for 'paying' workcamping?

[2inabox]

You might try volunteering for State Parks, Fish and Wildlife, or Corps of Engineers. Apply with the state you would like to be in. Most of these will allow you to work one month only, though they would like you to commit to longer. You can down load some of the applications on line or write for them.
You will have to reapply again each year.

[k0129rwv]

My son and his wife sold their house, stored some of their belongings and gave away the rest....Bought a 38 foot rv and got a job at a campground. After driving all the way there and reporting in they were promply told that because they had a 5 year old child they could not work there because it was an adult park.....They were crushed....they checked all the correspondence and paperwork and phone conversation notes that they had had with this campground. No where was it mentioned that this was an adult only park and children were persons non grata.....I would have handled it differently than they did....they just drove away.....after all they went thru I would have hired a lawyer and filed a breech of contract lawsuit.....

[bubba]

Did your son and his wife find in their paperwork where they told the campground that they had a five year old? Probably not!
Workamping was started by mostly retired folks looking for cheap/free camping and a little pocket change to help with expenses. Now more folks are trying to make a living at it. It is very unusual for workampers to have young children. I would suggest they make note of it in the future to prevent these situations. There are a lot of over 55 parks out there, mostly in the South/Southwest.
Hard to sue for breach of contract unless you have a written contract to begin with and it needs to also spell out the remedies if the contract is breached. Do they have a document like that???
Another issue with young children is most parks want both couples to work at the same time. Hard to do with children.

[annejrn]

My husband and I are going to be full-timers starting in Sept, when my contract with a San Antonio hospital starts. We hope to find a campground where my husband can work for our site, maybe earn a little money, and help out a Catholic parish do community service. Very excited, little aprehensive, but ready for something different!

[lazydaze07]

contact at lazydaze07@comcast.net

[candy4ever]

Hi, I'm a single gal 50+ new to this space and new to RVing. This summer I would like to go to Wall, South Dakota and work at the Wall Drug store. Has anyone else had this experince? I need to work for a living and have inexpensive living costs. I live in PA anyone else?

[twilite]

My husband and I are Workampers. Our first position was in Tucson, AZ as Manager and Maint. Tech at a Mobile Home and RV Park. Unfortunately the park got sold and new management came in - but... we are Managers in Midland, TX at a RV Campground (which is what we wanted to do all along) We have more fun meeting people and showing the beginners the steps needed to set-up (oh how i remember those 'new' days - I think we all do...)
The only thing that I can say is: Research the park and the company first!
There are many places that people post 'at-a-boy' remarks and not so good remarks about employers. If you are in-doubt get the h*** out! Never sign a contract for employment unless you have everything in writing with full explainations! CYA...
Workamping is tand should be fun, rewarding, and exciting - that is why we chose to do this full-time. No we are not retired - semi retired yes... We love what we do and we work hard to keep our park neat, clean and upbeat!
Enjoy what you do, and teach others what you would want them to teach to you!

[utmtman]

We do the voluteer thing for national parks. I have also looked at doing the voluteer workamping at a couple of rv parks. I prefer volunteering because there is a lot less hassle than there is with pay, taxes, the wife and I have retirments that are affected by working pay and so on. So far we have enjoyed the work we have done and had a great time.