Working at a campground part-time in exchange for a free campsite, is something that is very foreign to most people who haven’t been RVing. But elements of the “working for your rent/in-kind barter” concept are very relevant to the new “gig economy”. At its most basic, you are trading some labor for a free campsite, although it can entail more than that. There are workcamping jobs at commercial campgrounds and public ones, at parks and even at some businesses.
One of the great elements of traveling the country by RV is the relaxed and casual nature of it. By being in an RV, you are automatically part of group of laid back and friendly people, and workcamping dovetails into that. You get to work with like-minded people and ideally it should feel as much like hanging out with friends as it does work. Whether working in the office or outside, you will meet and can get to know all the different people staying in the park, their stories and where they’ve been.
That said it is Work, not play, and it should be approached that way. While no money is changing hands in most cases, you and the campground owner are making a business arrangement. To have the best experience possible, you as the workcamper should approach things like it’s a paying job. Many workcamping jobs are listed online on specialty sites (I’ll include a link), but some are purely word of mouth. We have met workcampers who simply asked the park they were already staying at if they needed any help.
Here are a few good tips for the workcamping interview process:
There should be some kind of interview process either by phone or in person instead of just via email.
During the interview, you should ask as many questions as you answer, in order to make certain the gig will be a good fit.
It is very important to know exactly what is expected of you and what benefits you will receive in this arrangement.
Know how many hours per week you will be working and what the schedule is, ask where the campsite is and what services are provided.
Besides a rent-free campsite, many jobs also provide laundry, cable TV or internet (so you don’t have to deal with park Wi-Fi) or propane.
Some parks have hybrid jobs where the first hours you work each week cover your site, and then pay you hourly for everything past that. This can be a great deal for couples that travel to follow one spouses changing job locations; the other spouse can work for the site and grocery money without needing a car to drive to a job.
While I’m on the topic of money, don’t forget to consider other options for working on the road. While no money is changing hands in most workcamping situations, your working time does have value that can be measured monetarily. Divide the cost of the site plus any other benefits by the number of hours you have to work, that in effect is your hourly pay. Once you add in non-monetary compensation such as convenience and pretty locations, is it worth it to you? It may not make sense for a couple to work a combined forty hours a week for a campsite that costs $250 a week, when they can get a job nearby paying more than that. But at least the “in kind” compensation of workcamping isn’t taxable.
The work itself is rarely too demanding. It is still common to see duties divided between men and women, particularly since so many jobs are designed for couples. Men usually work outside doing grounds keeping, light maintenance and cleaning. Women usually work inside at the office, handling phone calls, checking guests in and out, and running the campground store if there is one. For example, my day would start with doing a sweep through the park checking that nothing was out of place or in need of immediate attention, then cleaning the park facilities. After lunch my time would be split between maintenance tasks and helping guests. Laine would start her day checking and responding to emails and voice messages from the previous night. After that catch up, the day shifted to taking reservations and handling check-ins. For either of us, the number of check-ins and check-outs could make a big difference. Some days there is simply not much going on, but on others it could be a mad house.
It is important when workcamping to “take your passion with you,” as Mike Rowe likes to say. It isn’t glorious high-status work, but instead lots of basic customer service and cleaning. There aren’t any annual workcamper trade conventions or industry awards for excellence. However, the work does have plenty of avenues to set and achieve goals and find success if you look for them. For example, about 25 campers from a group showed up at the same time in a convoy. They needed to be checked in to get site numbers and paperwork, and then directed to their sites and parked. Making that happen quickly without any mishaps took quick actions and thinking, combined with attention to detail. At the end of the day with everybody set up and happy and no accidents, we left with the feeling of a job well done.
I often say that to be a fully formed and thoughtful adult, everybody should work retail or as a waiter or waitress for at least a brief time in their youth. There are many things that you learn in those kinds of jobs about yourself, work life, and the strangers around you, that can’t be picked up any other way. Workcamping is a bit like that for full time RVers. If you full time, or maybe just camp a lot, I highly recommend giving workcamping a try for a little while. You will have great experiences and gain new perspectives that you would never get otherwise.