The Workamper Show Podcast

Amazon, the online retail giant, has been hiring Workampers for years as part of its CamperForce program. It’s a community of enthusiastic RVers who work seasonal jobs picking, packing, stowing and receiving products at one of 11 warehouses in eight states. Those warehouses are located in Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Lisa Sarver and Jason Carletti launched My RV Inspection three years ago near Tampa. They have inspected more than 450 RVs since then. In fact, they make enough money that Lisa was able to leave a lucrative job as a traveling medical technician. Lisa describes what goes into a typical inspection, how long they take and how much money they can earn. She also describes what type of advertising and promotion worked for them, and outlines some of the expenses they incur throughout the year. This is a good episode for anyone contemplating purchasing an RV to listen to because Lisa explains why having an RV inspected is a necessity.

Michelle Burton is the general manager of Wading Pines Campground in Chatsworth, N.J. It’s an unusual campground in that it’s in the woods, but only 30 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean, one hour from Philadelphia and all the history there, and two hours from New York City. Wading Pines typically hires about 15 Workampers every year. They do things like maintain the grounds, operate a general store, housekeeping, take reservations, check in campers, and serve food in the snack shop.

Sylven and Adrian Watson are looking forward to the day they can uproot their lives and head out onto the open road. They have both done quite a bit of camping during their lives, and they just love being outdoors. Even though the couple has owned an RV for 14 years, they opted to enroll in the new RV Dreamers Journey course to get answers to some lingering questions so they could feel more confident about living in an RV full time.

Just doing two inspections a month, Bryan Carbonnell can bring in $1,400, on average. He can more than double that by completing minor repairs where he can charge $100 per hour. There are very few expenses, like insurance, that are deducted from his monthly income. Nor does he need to do a lot of promotion. They are both ideal Workamping businesses to operate on the road.

Lynn Hupp dreamed about the RV lifestyle for many years, and two major life changes earlier this year nudged her to jump out and make that dream a reality. Yet, she still wasn’t quite confident enough in her knowledge or abilities in order to become a full-time RVer. So, she enrolled in the Workamper News’ new RV Dreamers Journey online course designed for people like Lynn who want to soak up all the information they can about the lifestyle and the opportunities it presents. It required a minimal investment of money and some time, but she knew she’d get enough information to determine if the full-time RV lifestyle was right for her.

John Huggins and his wife, Kathy, founded the Living the RV Dream group. They were full-time RVers for quite some time and were one of the pioneers in creating online communities. The couple also served as Workampers nearly the entire time they were on the road. So, they are very well experienced in setting up and taking down an RV, and getting ready to hit the road again. The key is to develop a routine, and that starts will creating a checklist that is specific to your rig and your equipment. In this episode, John offers advice to take the stress and hassle out of RV set up.

Today, we are going to talk to the founders of the group A Year to Volunteer about ways Workampers can make a difference by getting involved in restoration projects around the country.

Phil and Shar Roos founded A Year to Volunteer in 2018, and launched their first project earlier this year. Initially, their goal was to retire and take a year off to volunteer doing something in all 50 states. Since then, their vision has grown to help connect other volunteers with opportunities to help around the country.

Today, their vision is to encourage everyone to volunteer to do something for 365 days over the span of their lifetimes. I suspect that will morph into something even bigger than Phil and Shar can imagine.

Most of their work at the moment is centered around restoring trails and fixing parks that were either damaged in storms or run down due to budget challenges. But the need for help is so immense that they’ll have no problem finding projects to complete.

Members of their group typically provide manpower while the venues supply the materials needed to complete the projects.

For example, they just finished a six-week renovation project at Bucks Pocket State Park in Alabama. Budget cuts forced the park to close in 2015, but with everyone cooped up at home, officials really wanted to reopen it this year. As you can imagine, there was a lot of work to do to get the campground and trails ready to be reused.

A Year to Volunteer members came in with chain saws, loppers, pruners, tractors and a skid-steer loader to recondition the park so that it could reopen in June.

In other projects, volunteers have been involved in landscaping, painting, carpentry, pouring concrete, hanging wallpaper and even painting rocks that are then scattered around the park and on trails for people to find on fun scavenger hunts.

There aren’t any real qualifications to be a volunteer because there is always something for someone to do that doesn’t require a lot of skill. Some states offer specific training, but most projects are completed by people who have a few hours, a few days, a week or an entire month to devote to making improvements.

Right now, Phil and Shar just pick an area they’d like to visit, and look for opportunities to do some volunteer work nearby. Once the project is identified, they set up a schedule and alert other volunteers who help spread the word as well.

I love the premise of A Year to Volunteer, or spending 365 days throughout an entire lifetime giving time back to local communities.

Most government entities are in a difficult position, whether they are funded at the federal, state, county or local level.  Most agencies have reworked their budgets so that recreation fees and admissions pay for park operations. But, if the parks aren’t in good condition, people tend to stay away, which deprives the park of needed fees to maintain the facilities. The parks get caught in an endless loop of lack of funding and reduced services.

Phil and Shar Roos are engaged in conversations with various government entities to identify projects that need to be completed. They already have three more projects planned yet this summer, and are talking to officials in three other states.

After listening to their story, I imagine that word will spread and Phil and Shar will become full-time coordinators to act as liaisons between various projects and volunteer leaders to the point there will be dozens of projects underway at the same time across the country.

This is a great opportunity for friends to do something together and make a difference for their local area, or for families to tackle projects with their children to get them in the habit of volunteering.

It often involves working outdoors,

As residents of New England, Don and Pat Hawes spend most of their winters Workamping in southern states from Florida to Arizona, but always returned to their northern home in summer to spend time with their children and grandkids. They were Workamping 20 years ago before they even knew what it was when they helped in the kitchen and ran special events at a seasonal RV park in New Hampshire in exchange for a free campsite. Through their experiences, the greatest benefit they’ve enjoyed has been the people they have met – either fellow Workampers or campers who were staying at the RV parks.

Jody Duquette is the executive director of Workamper News. As a Workamper herself, Jody knows that a resume is often the first impression someone makes with a prospective employer. A Workamping resume is different than a traditional resume that people often craft to get a professional job. There is specific information that employers are looking for when reviewing resumes from Workampers, and Jody explains how to ensure that information is included so it draws the attention of an employer.