The Workamper Show Podcast

This episode features two shorter employer interviews for Wall Drug and Aramark. Wall Drug is looking for workampers next year to work in the retail store as well as the very large 530-seat café. Anne Spotted Bear describes jobs in retail and food service. Aramark is looking for people to work at the stadium in Surprise, Ariz., during spring training month. Barry Holtcamp is looking for general utility workers, cashiers, cooks, warehouse workers and supervisors. There are more than 100 positions available to work between 25 and 35 hours per week.

A lot of people seek to become workampers when they decide to pursue the RV lifestyle. But, some people start businesses while others figure out ways to bring a current business with them. Eric and Tami Johnson opted to buy an existing business, and use that to finance their travel dreams. They explain why buying an existing business was the best choice for them because they knew it would provide cash flow from Day One. They also describe how TechnoRV.com can be a good resource for new and experienced RVers.

Southeast Publications produces guides that are distributed free to people when they check into campgrounds and RV parks. The guides often include a map of the facility, the location of various amenities, a list of rules and policies, suggestions for things to do in the local area and addresses for key business. Brian McGuinn hires people to visit a campground for a few weeks and solicit advertisements from local businesses.

Jody and Luke Duquette have been RVing together since the summer of 2012. At first, they used a fifth wheel, but recently switched to a Class C motorhome. They both work for Workamper News. Jody is the editor of the bimonthly magazine and oversees graphic design. Luke is responsible for all the technology that supports the business and the website. Jody and Luke explain some of the challenges they face working from the road, and offer tips to help others improve that experience.

Ticaboo Lodge is 72-room lodge that offers dining as well as an offshore marina and boating services in the northern Lake Powell region of Utah. The lake is massive, extending 186 miles from Arizona into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. It is open year-round, but the lodge is looking for full- and part-time workampers from April to October to staff retail stores, food service jobs, customer service functions as well as housekeeping and maintenance.

Bill and Laura Hoak have enjoyed several workamping experiences in recent years. They have worked sales jobs, maintenance jobs, retail jobs and checked people into campgrounds. The Hoaks spent the summer working in Lebanon, Maine, and are either in Florida now, or headed that way. A love for travel attracted them to the workamping experience. The Hoaks talk about how they find jobs on Workamper.com, and describe what it took for them to get on the road back in 2016.

Delaware North, a federal contractor that staffs the food service concessions and retail stores at Yellowstone National Park, is looking for several hundred full- and part-time people to work 32 to 40 hours per week as cooks, cashiers, managers and supervisors. Workampers are needed from April to October, and can work an entire season or a shorter 60-day stint. Hundreds of thousands of people flock to Yellowstone every year to enjoy the wildlife and natural scenery. You can, too — and get paid for being there.

Mike and Yvonne Hall have been full-time RVing and workamping for 18 years. They lived in a fifth wheel for many years, and loved it. However, they just acquired a motorhome, and love it, too. They’ll explain the advantages of both and why they opted for a 40-foot motorhome at this point in their adventure. They have had plenty of experience working as campground hosts, which is a popular workamping job. Te also get into technical aspects of workamping, such as selecting a domicile state, setting up a mail forwarding service, and managing banking from the road.

Our guests today are Amanda Burleson and Ermin Husidic. Prairie Berry Winery has won more than 1,000 international awards. They not only offer traditional grape wines, but also wines produced from locally-grown fruits, or prairie berries, as they are called. Workampers lead customers through wine-tasting events to find the best wines to pair with a variety of foods. Prairie Berry also staffs a kitchen that creates a variety of handmade sandwiches, pizzas, salads, artisan plates, and desserts.

For the past nine years, Macgyver Hlad has found a workamping niche. He’s a storm chaser of sorts who travels around America to areas impacted by natural disasters and finds jobs helping to remove storm debris. It sounds like tough work, but Macgyver loves the freedom working outdoors offers – even when the circumstances are less than ideal. Like other millennials, he realizes that the scope of work has changed, and he’s embracing what’s called the gig economy where people work short-term jobs and move on. 

Our guests today are Shauna Hansford and Erin Redington, with Alaska Excursions or Alaska X for short. Their company caters to guests who arrive via cruise ships. Alaska X offers several fun excursions for the cruise passengers, and the firm hires workampers to guide, drive and escort them as they have some fun. Based in Skagway, Alaska X offers a dog mushing experience as well as a zip line adventure, horseback riding and a wilderness adventure. The firm hires about 120 workampers for a variety of jobs.

Mary Shinn loves to camp. She and her husband bought their own RV in the 1980s and traveled all over America. She even drove an RV down to Honduras. It was one adventure after another. But, when her husband died five years ago, Mary didn’t want to sit at home all day. She went camping in Missouri where she encountered her first workamper. One thing led to another and she wound up working as a campground host out in Washington state. She has never looked back.