Work Camping: Returning or Leaving?
The amazing Silverton, Colorado with its mesmerizing fall colors!!
Shall you go or shall you stay? It almost sounds like something from Shakespeare! What I am trying to convey is for those of you that work camp. If you work camp, do you return to the same campground or area each year or do you seek new adventures each time? Find out below if we would return or leave! But first, for those of you that may not know what work camp is, let’s dig into it!
Work camping is a way to afford traveling in a RV fulltime and have the ability to see amazing sites in our country. There are different ways to provide the services, such as working at a campground, working in town, working at a farm or something else. You provide the service and in return you get to stay at a campground for free or fee based, or a site the employer provides and maybe earn wages. Each summer thousands of hopeful and new, temporary residents flock to states with much cooler weather to explore and provide a service. Let’s explore some great things about returning to the same area year after year and also some setbacks to returning.
The famous barn at the Grand Tetons!
Advantages of going to the same RV park each year:
Comfortable place to camp in.
Knowledge of the campground. It is good to know where the rv parking is, cabins and tents.
Knowledge of the area - this is really important for tourists!
Like to see the same area several times (sometimes once is not enough), for example, Yellowstone.
Likes to work for the same management and/or other work campers. This is huge!!!
Money may or may not be important
Disadvantages (there are always these):
Boring area - not much to do.
Low or no pay - difficult when you have bills to pay!
Terrible management - I know what this is like and it sucks!
Seen the same stuff several times and yearn for something new.
Want to explore elsewhere -yearn for new adventures.
Limited WIFI - this can be EXTREMELY difficult!
St. George, Utah has incredible hiking!
I will be honest and say it is sometimes hard to leave an area you have come accustom to, with so much to seek and do, but yet, it is also an adventure to go somewhere else. Whether it is a new town or a new state, people that live and travel in their RV can be ready for new adventures, such as:
New places to explore
Learn about an area
Get knowledge about the area to share with others
Expand your horizons with new sights
A new sticker to put on your RV!
Bragging rights to your family and friends about the new place
When we work camped, I liked exploring other areas. Life is short and I feel there is so much to explore in our great country! But this is only my opinion. But I also may have returned to a campground we worked before because of the things to do in that area, or the friends we would like to see again. There is no right or wrong place to go or stay. Some people like to stay in certain areas and some people like to go elsewhere. It is up to you!
Here are some suggestions on how to find work camping gigs and the links are the highlighted words:
Workamper News: a free and fee based site with information about work camping and more! You will have to join to access the information.
WorkampingJobs.com: A free site that offers both salaried and non-salaried positions for work camping. You can find a job by state or by salary.
Work at KOA: if you like camping in a KOA, here is the site for you!
CoolWorks - Jobs with RV spaces: If you want to work in a national park, here is your chance!
Kamper Jobs: I have not dealt with this company but it is free to look at possible job opportunities!
The sooner you start, for example, a year before or as soon as they start hiring, the better chances you have to work camp in a dreamy destination.
As for us, if we were still doing this today, I would rather go to other campgrounds each year to explore other parts of our country. However, and this is a BIG however, if the place we work camped at was REALLY good, had plenty of things to explore and did not mind exploring the same places again or finding new things to do, we might return to the