4 Ways to Take Advantage of your Work Camping Experience
03-16-2018
Author: in Workamping
My husband and I have been full time RVing for about three years, and in that time, we’ve had about ten work camping jobs, some we have come back to over the seasons. For us, each work camping experience is an opportunity for us to expand our job skill sets, introduce ourselves to new faces and places, and negotiate wage increases and work responsibilities if we really enjoy a particular job and want to return.
Learn new job skills.
Every work camping job is a chance to hone in on new job skill sets and improve upon rusty ones. This not only showcases our assets for future, more desirable jobs, but boosts our confidence level and preparedness for whatever comes our way.
One of our most frequent work camping positions is camp hosts at RV parks and campgrounds. I am usually assigned the front office/check-in role and Levi takes on the role of outside/maintenance guy. In my case, I have learned to operate three separate campground software systems and swallowed the good with the bad of customer service. Levi has had plenty of practice troubleshooting RV issues with campground guests. He is more confident when solving electrical related issues with plugins and breakers, more familiar with various hook-up setups, and can certainly unfreeze water spigots and hoses or dole out RV maintenance tips and tricks.
There are other jobs that we never would have fathomed working before becoming full time RVers. For instance, as piling station workers with the sugar beet harvest, we both learned how to operate farming equipment. Both of us operated the boom of the piler, and Levi got many hours inside the piler operator tower and driving a skid steer and loader.
Explore the location.
Most of our work camping gigs take us to new-to-us small towns and cities. Even as we drive from one job to the next, we come across unexplored sites. I never truly grasped the words of “America the Beautiful” until we started traveling around the country. This land has some pretty breathtaking scenery and there is a story in every crevice of every town, whether it is written in history books or not.
As cliche as this may be, our country is a melting pot, a creation of many minds and acts of individuals and groups. Every story that we read and visit is another window into our country’s past and present, and every story is an appreciation and awareness of what we had and lost or continue to savor.
Meet new people.
One of the most influential aspects of work camping is the people we meet and work alongside. We learn and grow from our everyday interactions. Besides trial and error, many of our preventative RV troubleshooting comes from other RVers and their experiences. Potential issues like surviving below freezing temperatures or heatwaves have been dodged with advice from seasoned travelers. We learn about helpful travel apps, affordable overnight or extended stops, and scrumptious easy-to-make healthy meals in our tiny RV kitchen, among other tips.
We’ve collaborated with others on ways to supplement our income and heard stories about humanitarian efforts RVers have taken on besides continually moving from one work camping gig to the next. We’ve gathered together for meals, movies, and game nights only to end up sharing stories about life before the open road and nomadic adventures and lessons learned.
Thru our various work camping jobs, we’ve gained a whole new insight and understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of RV parks, farm life, and packages received from Amazon. It’s a whole different world when you are on the preparation and distribution side of these venues.
Negotiate possible options.
Every now and then we come across a work camping job that we really enjoy, whether it is because of the people, place, or income. In these circumstances, we make attempts to, for lack of a better phrase, “sweeten the pot” for future returns.
This is not always possible, but if we know that our employee is satisfied with our performance and wants us to return, we take the time to sit down and discuss possibilities for the following season. In the past, we’ve been able to agree on increased salary and benefits as well as preferred shifts and positions. Anything is possible, especially when your skills are desirable and irreplaceable!
Learn new job skills.
Every work camping job is a chance to hone in on new job skill sets and improve upon rusty ones. This not only showcases our assets for future, more desirable jobs, but boosts our confidence level and preparedness for whatever comes our way.
One of our most frequent work camping positions is camp hosts at RV parks and campgrounds. I am usually assigned the front office/check-in role and Levi takes on the role of outside/maintenance guy. In my case, I have learned to operate three separate campground software systems and swallowed the good with the bad of customer service. Levi has had plenty of practice troubleshooting RV issues with campground guests. He is more confident when solving electrical related issues with plugins and breakers, more familiar with various hook-up setups, and can certainly unfreeze water spigots and hoses or dole out RV maintenance tips and tricks.
There are other jobs that we never would have fathomed working before becoming full time RVers. For instance, as piling station workers with the sugar beet harvest, we both learned how to operate farming equipment. Both of us operated the boom of the piler, and Levi got many hours inside the piler operator tower and driving a skid steer and loader.
Explore the location.
Most of our work camping gigs take us to new-to-us small towns and cities. Even as we drive from one job to the next, we come across unexplored sites. I never truly grasped the words of “America the Beautiful” until we started traveling around the country. This land has some pretty breathtaking scenery and there is a story in every crevice of every town, whether it is written in history books or not.
As cliche as this may be, our country is a melting pot, a creation of many minds and acts of individuals and groups. Every story that we read and visit is another window into our country’s past and present, and every story is an appreciation and awareness of what we had and lost or continue to savor.
Meet new people.
One of the most influential aspects of work camping is the people we meet and work alongside. We learn and grow from our everyday interactions. Besides trial and error, many of our preventative RV troubleshooting comes from other RVers and their experiences. Potential issues like surviving below freezing temperatures or heatwaves have been dodged with advice from seasoned travelers. We learn about helpful travel apps, affordable overnight or extended stops, and scrumptious easy-to-make healthy meals in our tiny RV kitchen, among other tips.
We’ve collaborated with others on ways to supplement our income and heard stories about humanitarian efforts RVers have taken on besides continually moving from one work camping gig to the next. We’ve gathered together for meals, movies, and game nights only to end up sharing stories about life before the open road and nomadic adventures and lessons learned.
Thru our various work camping jobs, we’ve gained a whole new insight and understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of RV parks, farm life, and packages received from Amazon. It’s a whole different world when you are on the preparation and distribution side of these venues.
Negotiate possible options.
Every now and then we come across a work camping job that we really enjoy, whether it is because of the people, place, or income. In these circumstances, we make attempts to, for lack of a better phrase, “sweeten the pot” for future returns.
This is not always possible, but if we know that our employee is satisfied with our performance and wants us to return, we take the time to sit down and discuss possibilities for the following season. In the past, we’ve been able to agree on increased salary and benefits as well as preferred shifts and positions. Anything is possible, especially when your skills are desirable and irreplaceable!
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Author: Levi and Natalie Henley
