Workampers have been employed by Prairie Berry for the past five years and they’ve always been involved with serving samples. This year, additional Workampers are needed to help in the kitchen preparing food for the on-site restaurant and helping to set up for special events. We have interviewed a number of Workampers on this show and in the Workamper News magazine who have described their time at Prairie Berry as one of the best jobs they’ve ever had.
Park Ranger Rob Hill needs several volunteers to help create and deliver water safety presentations to area schools. For that reason, any Workampers with teaching experience and who love boating, canoeing or kayaking would likely love this opportunity. Rob is also looking for volunteers to help with maintenance of the property, serve as gatehouse attendants and simply interact with guests while overseeing the project. Workampers Mike and Sue Ward also come on the show to describe the community of Workampers as well as some of the jobs they do when working and some of the activities they enjoy during their time off.
For 20 years, ID Plans has hired teams of RVers to trek across the country performing physical surveys of commercial real estate properties, primarily at retail locations, like malls or strip shopping centers. The teams confirm and record all the assets on the property. It might be the location of light poles in the parking lot to the types of air handling equipment on the roof and even the position of security cameras. The compensation plan uses a formula based on the square footage of the commercial property and assigns an amount to each item that must be documented whether it is an air handling unit or a sprinkler head. Generally, people can make from $1,000 to $2,000 per week.
Adventures add life to living, but they don’t have to be extravagant, expensive or epic trips. Heidi Dusek, founder of Ordinary Sherpa, helps adults and families transform ordinary activities into extraordinary adventures. The money parents spend on trinkets for their kids that just add noise to their lives and clutter to the house can be reinvested into memory-making park admissions and tools like butterfly nets and fishing poles. Heidi helps other families build lasting memories and discover how much fun it can be to share common experiences that enable everyone really get to know each other on a more personal level.
Anthony Montelongo, who owns a fifth wheel, started a mobile service business in north Georgia right in the middle of the COVID shutdowns. He completed five weeks of advanced training, went to work for an RV dealership to get some experience and then ventured out on his own by launching Certified RV Solutions in Ellijay, Ga. His company does more than just fix RVs. He also offers inspections as well as enhanced walk-through orientations for new buyers that go beyond the quick tour that buyers typically receive when picking up a new RV. He describes the steps he took to get his training and start his growing business.
Dan and Patty Harrison feel Workamping gives them a purpose for getting up in the morning. Like Patty said, people can fill their time with crafts, playing cards and activities like that. But, for the Harrisons, that lifestyle quickly got boring. Workamping allows them to use their brains while keeping busy and active. They also wanted a greater sense of purpose, so Dan and Patty started looking for ways to volunteer to help others in some way. That’s when they discovered Workamping as an ideal way to blend tourism with jobs.
Tracy and Lee Perkins have been crisscrossing the country a number of times and funding their travels by Workamping along the way. They have sold Christmas trees, harvested sugar beets, shipped products in an Amazon warehouse, guarded gates at Texas oilfields, and worked at several campgrounds in paid and volunteer positions. They constantly feel the tug to go see some place new. In fact, Lee said that whenever he wears a path from his RV to the pond, he knows it is time to move on.
Ranger Tyler Marye is looking for paid gate attendants, and that involves greeting guests on arrival, opening and closing the gates, issuing permits, collecting fees, and educating people about park rules. There are also a few volunteer positions open this summer.
Gerry and Ron Bays love Workamping at campgrounds. It saves them money and, more importantly, allows them to remain active in retirement and visit a number of places they’d dreamed about seeing. They share what attracted them to Workamping in the first place and describe some of the fun adventures they’ve enjoyed as well as lessons they learned along the way.
This week’s show features an interview with a dog trainer who is planning to use his RV to travel throughout his market area to put on training seminars for pet owners. Dan Ross is a professional dog trainer from southern California who has been in business for six years. He has developed a way to communicate with dogs that has become second nature to him, and he shares that knowledge with other pet owners in hopes they’ll bond more closely with their own dogs.
Kyle Henson is a full-time RVer who has traveled with his wife and 13-year-old daughter since 2011. He had already been working online in the insurance industry when they decided to take their first RV trip.
However, while on the road, Kyle discovered a pressing need among RVers, especially those who traded in a sticks-and-bricks home for one on wheels. The couple formed Nomad Insurance Group to connect RVers to insurance companies that realize the challenges RVers face in finding healthcare on the road. The company focuses exclusively on health insurance programs that provide nationwide coverage that is not location-dependent in confining people to specific doctors in specific areas.
Workampers are needed at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project at Lake Sonoma in central California. They serve as camp hosts and to help out in the visitor centers by selling merchandise and leading people on tours of the hatchery. The volunteers also provide maintenance and landscaping services as well as serve as gate monitors by interacting with guests and ensuring fees are being paid. They generally work three days on with four days off to explore wineries and the San Fransisco area.
