Podcast Episodes

Georgia Gleason describes full-time van life in Episode 260

Today I am interviewing an amazing young woman from Nebraska. She works remotely for her employer and lives in a van she converted into an RV by herself, which she affectionately nicknamed Vanosaur.

Georgia Gleason started RVing part-time in March 2022. After discovering she really liked the flexibility, she has lived in her van since last fall. She and her dog, Maggie, have already been to 12 states.

Although she grew up camping with her family, Georgia really got the bug to do it full-time after traveling to Iceland with a friend six years ago. During COVID, she watched thousands of hours of YouTube videos about people living full-time in their vans.

Class B motorhomes were extraordinarily expensive. So Georgia shopped around and found a cargo van for about $35,000, then spent another $8,500 converting it into an RV that serves as her home and office. Georgia works as a project manager providing implementation services and employee engagement surveys for a company in Nebraska.

When I was her age, I wish I had the foresight Georgia has today. She already realizes there is more to life than working all day just to have a few hours off on weekends.

Most days, Georgia does her job, then drives to a new location about an hour away. That gives her time to find a place to spend the night and check out the area before it gets too dark.

It’s remarkable when you think about it. Most people have one-hour, one-way commutes between their homes and jobs. Georgia meanders her way around the country at a leisurely pace that enables her to meet other people and take in sights that others dream about doing “someday.”

Her biggest challenge is maintaining an internet connection, so Georgia purchased a cell phone booster that really ramps up her signal strength from one to four bars. That gives her plenty of oomph to do whatever she needs to do online.

Georgia’s goal is to visit every state she can drive through. But, she doesn’t count it as an official visit until she has spent at least two nights in the state. She has already discovered some really fun places to visit, like Ridgeway, Colo., and Paso Robles, Calif.

However, Georgia wants to take an epic trip to Alaska in 2025, so she is planning now to make sure she will be able to do her job while visiting the Last Frontier.

She installed the Renogy solar system, which gives her more than enough power to work wherever she travels. In fact, Georgia said she had yet to run out of power or even drop below 50 percent battery capacity. To reduce her electrical needs, she installed a marine water pump as well as a Natures Head composting toilet. She encourages people to evaluate marine products in addition to RV products.

Even at her age, Georgia said if she had to start over, she would have begun RVing much earlier. As of last week, she put on 13,000 miles visiting 13 states, but has no plans for slowing down. Georgia spends a lot of time in Harvest Host sites, staying on public lands or at businesses which support RV overnight stays.

People can connect with Georgia and follow her travels by looking for VanosaurAndMaggie on Instagram.

Today’s episode is sponsored by Workamper News. With its Diamond and Platinum membership tools, Workamper News is much more than just a job-listing website. When you put the tools of this professional service into action, you’ll find out just how easy it can be to turn your Workamping dreams into reality.

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If you’re serious about leading a successful and enjoyable Workamping lifestyle, then a Diamond or Platinum membership is for you.  You can even get started with a free 30-day trial by visiting workamper.com/trial. Embark on new adventures today with the support of Workamper News behind you!

That’s all I have for this week’s show. Next time, I will be speaking with a woman who is looking for Workampers to help out at 11 resorts in Michigan, Ohio and Illinois. I’ll have that interview on the next episode of The Workamper Show. Thanks for listening!

Greg Gerber

Greg Gerber is a former journalist who covered the recreation vehicle industry since 2009. He started podcasting in 2014 and enjoys interviewing people about ways to live, work and play in their RVs.

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