Most people have an image in their mind when they think about National Parks, whether it’s Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Arches, Yosemite, or a park closer to their home. But National Parks are so much more, they each have their own reason for being a National Park, they have wild and sometimes surprising wildlife, and they all have dedicated Park Rangers that facilitate visitors and help the park function year-round. My guest, Riley Hays, is currently an Interpretive Park Ranger at Denali National Park in Alaska. In this episode, Riley tells me about a horned lizard scavenger hunt, how she got started on the track to becoming a Park Ranger, and all the amazing things about National Parks we could fit in.

You can find Riley’s blog at rileysroves.com. It’s got her writing, a resource library full of park guides and road trip itineraries, and it’s a great website to wander around in and learn all about National Parks.

Waking up in a different Caribbean locale everyday, working in Alaska, Europe, Asia, and New Zealand, getting 10 weeks off to travel between work contracts. What if I told you that within the next year, this could be your life? For Miranda Grant, this is the life she’s created for herself and she’s living it to the fullest. In this episode, we talk about how to do what she does, what lies on the other side of fear, and how she chooses to share her experiences on social media.

You can find Miranda on IG @itsthe_mjg

Travel and Seasonal work can take a fascination from childhood and turn it into a lifelong quest. Novelty and new things seem to be at the fingertips of anyone willing to go that extra mile just to find it. Between a childhood in Maine and experiences later in life in California and Alaska, Karl Koehler has not only searched for, but found, incredible creatures and unbelievable adventures. In this episode, we talk about all sorts of nudibranchs, how easy and cheap the hobby of scuba diving can be, and we wade through a discussion of truth and Truth.

Karl’s photography and writing is featured in Issue 05 of The Seasonals Quarterly Magazine, out now. Find it at theseasonals.com/shop

Filling positions, hiring, finding applicants, calling references, for some people these are terms with severe negative associations. Hiring is a crucial part of every company and for those who have had trouble in the past, it’s a painful subject. My guest on this episode has been through those problems and came out on the other side with a strategy to fix them, he’s created a communication tool that makes the application process as easy and streamlined as possible for both applicant and employer. This communication tool is JobApplix. In this episode, Ian McIver and I talk about the problems that come with hiring, the best strategies to succeed at filling open positions, and we talk about his history in the Seasonal lifestyle as a tour guide.

You can find more about JobApplix at jobapplix.com

If you’d like to try a 30-Day free trial of JobApplix, just sign up on their webpage and when you get to the payment page, put the code JHFree30 into the promo code box.

If you’d like more information, you can sign up for their free hiring guide on the homepage. You’ll receive their free hiring guide and they invite you to message them with any questions.

If you’d like to contact Ian you can reach him at [email protected]

One of the misconceptions about people in the Seasonal lifestyle is that they don’t put enough thought into finances or their own futures. Seasonal work can be a respite from society at large, it can be a summer job, it can be a chance to recharge before taking on a new step in life. But for those who choose the Seasonal lifestyle full time, it is not only a pathway to financial freedom, but also a rewarding way to prepare for retirement. David Dentinger is trying to push these ideas of finance and future to every Seasonal willing to listen. In this episode, we talk about fish who have lived through two world wars, how and why to have the tough conversations with kids, and David uses the word ‘artifice’ in a conversation about index funds.

If you’d like to check out David’s writing about the Seasonal lifestyle, you can find his articles here:

https://www.theseasonals.com/buying-happiness

https://www.theseasonals.com/chasingbuffalo

https://www.theseasonals.com/seasonalfinance

If you’d like to purchase an issue or subscription (and have us send a free copy to someone else) of The Seasonals Quarterly Magazine you can do that here:

https://www.theseasonals.com/shop

Living at home after a short bout with college, working odd jobs, feeling unfulfilled. The last years of being a teenager and the beginning of the twenties is a strange time for many people. Telling someone going through that, that in just a decade, with a few wild choices, they would be an established ski patroller, a professional firefighter, a husband and a soon to be dad, all on the other side of the country, might sound crazy but it might also give them the hope and window of opportunity they’re looking for. That’s the chain of events that describe Tom Schofield’s seasonal journey. In this episode, we talk about life in the firehouse, how to turn an embarrassing fall during a ski patrol tryout into a positive, and how meeting people during a temporary winter gig can create friendships that last a lifetime.

If you enjoy what you hear on The Seasonals Podcast and would like to support us, check out theseasonals.com/shop and pick up a copy of the newest issue of The Seasonals Quarterly Magazine. Issue 04 includes amazing resources and stories about the Seasonal lifestyle for future, current, and past Seasonals, as well as anyone interested in just being entertained by people living this type of life.

When you know what it feels like to be truly home, you can never shake that feeling, no matter how far away you find yourself. But what if home isn’t just a place, but also a way of life? In this episode, Cooper Hadaway and I discuss his early back and forth with an alternative lifestyle, what a morning drive through the Grand Tetons with Third Eye Blind is like, and how a shared love of the Dead saved his ass during a job interview and helped him secure the life that now brings him so much happiness.

The path from Chicago to the rainforest of Alaska to the island of Catalina is a long one, but Melissa Fudge is no stranger to a hike worthwhile in search of all the greatness nature has to offer. In this episode, we talk about how terrible 8th graders are, using all five senses in the Tongass National Forest, and where Melissa goes for all her nature facts.

Sometimes promotions and raises take awhile to receive. Sometimes they happen on your first day at work. Between his work ethic, brains, and personality, its easy to see why Jose Rodriguez has advanced quickly in his Seasonal career. In this episode, we talk about how a cannery runs, how enjoyable it is to work for the postal service, and what made a Los Angeles native fall in love with an island town in Alaska.

At the beginning of the summer, I interviewed Justin before his first season as a Seasonal. Now that his first foray into this world is coming to a close with the season ending, I had to sit him down again and force him to answer some questions. In this episode, we talk about how his summer went, how his winter will go, and the things he would have said to his past self to make the transition faster and easier.