Community Forums

wanderer2 · 07-27-2008, 01:29 PM

My husband and I plan on workkamping starting in 2010 and we've heard how you are worked like horses and treat like white trailor trash and on the other hand we have heard how great it is and it will not make you rich but is a great way to see the country. We are torn. What's the scoop?

doghowz3 · 07-27-2008, 02:04 PM

Inquiring minds ...

Dolph · 07-27-2008, 06:35 PM

We are volunteering at a Nat'l Park. After being retired for 15 year it was a little hard to get back in the routine. My SO & I put in 16 hours a week each, so it is pretty light duty in return for a full hook up spot. Educational and, for the most part, fun. As I understand it, the key to any workcamper job is to have a complete understanding of what the job entails and what the benefits are. If it turns out the job is not as represented then get in and turn the key. There are lots of opportunities out there.

MtManLee · 07-27-2008, 06:48 PM

Like anyting out there, there are good and bad. Same with workamping. Some jobs are great and fun others they will work you to death and treat ya bad ifn you let them.

GraciesMom · 08-05-2008, 04:39 PM

I only work-camped at two RV parks - that was enough for me. The first time, the owners were total opposites - one of them was friendly and laid back and the other acted like you were going to rip her off if she didn't squeeze every second of work our of you possible. The other down part was that you had to have a walkie-talkie with you 24/7 and had to have it on. You had to let them know when you were leaving the park - whether you were on duty or not - and when you got back. You could be called to work at anytime. So you really had no time to yourself unless you left the park. If you were on duty, it started at 5:30 that evening and lasted until you got off the next day - but you were only paid or credited for the time you were actually in the office or working on the grounds or whatever. So you worked 24 hours but where only credited for 4 or 5 or however long your shift was. It wasn't worth it. The next job was working for a sociopathic con-man. Needless to say, I would much rather pay for my space and have my freedom than work for these people. I'm sure others have had good experiences - but I wasn't willing to try it a third time. If you have no problem changing your plans at someone else's whim and are willing to commit for 3 to 6 months, I guess it might be good for you - but it wasn't for me. And I have absolutely no respect for the website that caters to RV park owners and matched owners and workers.

MCPO Ret · 08-06-2008, 03:42 AM

I guess like they say "to each his own". We are workamping in Maine this summer and it has been great. We work for site only - the deal was 12 hours each per week. My wife and I both wanted to work outside and not in the office and worked with the owners on this from day one. Rahter than worry about hours we have a specific job - ground maintenance (landscaping). The park has 80 sites and is what you might call heavily wooded - sites are gravel/grass and of course weeds. Rather than punch the clock or keep track of our minutes we agreed that we would keep the park looking like it should - this works great for us. I've had visitors staying here for a week at a time and we had no problem taking off the entire time. The other two workampers have found the same liberty and get no pressure from the owners to "punch in" each day or to be on-call 24/7. It does help if you do a good job when workamping - even do more than expected at times. We have rebuilt a boat dock, my wife drives the riding mower and I weed wack, cut back over growth along the road that hasn't been touched in 10 years, clean up fire rings after the weekends and basically just help out. I did track hours the first couple of weeks but found it to be a waste of time (the park landscaping can be done in much less than 12 hours a week most of the time) - we are not being taken advantage of - as a matter of fact we get told all the time to stop work and relax. We will be back here next year - any one looking for a "site only" opportunity PM me and I'll send you more info. The location is in Richmond Maine (about hour from the coast and 15 minutes from Augusta). Gotta run - heading to Canada for about 4 days to do a little sight seeing.

doc · 08-06-2008, 05:05 AM

Quote:

only work-camped at two RV parks - that was enough for me. The first time, the owners were total opposites - one of them was friendly and laid back and the other acted like you were going to rip her off if she didn't squeeze every second of work our of you possible. The other down part was that you had to have a walkie-talkie with you 24/7 and had to have it on. You had to let them know when you were leaving the park - whether you were on duty or not - and when you got back. You could be called to work at anytime. So you really had no time to yourself unless you left the park. If you were on duty, it started at 5:30 that evening and lasted until you got off the next day - but you were only paid or credited for the time you were actually in the office or working on the grounds or whatever. So you worked 24 hours but where only credited for 4 or 5 or however long your shift was. It wasn't worth it. The next job was working for a sociopathic con-man. Needless to say, I would much rather pay for my space and have my freedom than work for these people. I'm sure others have had good experiences - but I wasn't willing to try it a third time. If you have no problem changing your plans at someone else's whim and are willing to commit for 3 to 6 months, I guess it might be good for you - but it wasn't for me. And I have absolutely no respect for the website that caters to RV park owners and matched owners and workers.

So let me get this straight, you let these jerks do this to you for 3 to 6 months? However long it went on after you found out the deal becomes YOUR fault if you take no action. Crank up and leave for goodness sake. You owe these types nothing except dust as you hit the road.

GraciesMom · 08-06-2008, 12:39 PM

I took action. I left after two months with the first one and after a month with the second one. I was just saying that if you can stand that kind of treatment for 3 to 6 months, more power to you, but in my opinion, life is too short. It went against my grain to back out on a commitment, but the way I viewed it, they backed out on theirs by imposing ridiculous regulations that were not clearly indicated up front. If I had any idea that I was going to be tied down to a walkie-talkie 24/7 or living in the middle of nowhere with no laundry facilities or satellite service, I'd never have gone to start with. The second RV park owner just flat lied, thinking that once I got there, it would be more trouble for me to leave than just stick it out. He found out that he was wrong. I wasn't born yesterday doc!! Just tossing my experiences in the pot!!

USMC_SgtMaj(Ret) · 08-14-2008, 06:17 AM

Anyone interested in workcamping in North Eastern Sierras of California....we are a laid back rv park. Your duties would be real light and easy, you can leave for a week(s) at a time. We are not a high volume rv park. My wife and I just want to be able to leave for a week at a time to get away. You would actually get "bored" if you think your coming to work. Comes with space rent, free propane, full hookups.

River Ranch, Quincy CA

rvgrandma · 10-12-2008, 10:57 AM

We have workamped 5 places and this last one has got to be the worst. Our 3rd one in Florida we quit after 3 weeks due to the foul language used by management and owners.

Currently we are managing a co-op in Nevada. We arrived on a Tuesday, worked Wednesday and the manager took off on Thursday for a long weekend. It was not fun being left alone with the co-op president and another longtime member trying to find out how to do things. After a month of training the managers took off on a month long vacation. Good thing I am good at searching and finding answers. My husband's training was: the manager would tell him a couple things to do then take off in the golf cart to do his own private work (on company time) leaving him to walk and figure out what to do.

The managers returned from their vacation and were terminated with two weeks pay, the following week. They were not only the managers for 5 years but also members. The park reaction was a recall of the board members responsible for the termination (they were going to retire in 7 weeks so I don't understand the need to terminate them). This split the park in half - those who liked the managers and those who agreed with the action, and put us in the middle.

New temp. board members were appointed, a new president chosen, and then things just go more stressful and worse. A new board will be elected the end of this month which means more changes in how the office is run. We basically have 182 bosses who are constantly going to the board president who then comes to us. They have nothing better to do in here but measure how the rv's are parked and whether we are doing things exactly correctly or whether the renters are violating any park rules including leaving their rig unattended for longer than 24 hours.

Oh, can't forget the new assistant managers. They were hired by the old president knowing they couldn't work Saturday and we wanted the weekends off. She wasn't trained after 3 weeks, two days a week, but the members kept complaining so the president said leave her on her own. Then I get the blame cause she is not ready. It's a no win situation.

We are in the process of looking for another job but paying winter jobs are not easy to find. We only have to give a 15 day notice, so we can leave withing 2 weeks. The board won't like it - our contract is thru 4/30/09. The president was asking us if we would extend and we told her we can't make a decision until after the new board takes over and we see how things run. She says that is too late - the board needs to know by the first of November. Too Bad

Will we keep workamping? Of course - it is worth it.

Bill & Jan · 11-12-2008, 04:26 PM

There are two kinds of workamping....for pay and volunteering. My husband and I are into volunteering because we want to see the USA yet feel we are making some kind of contribution to society. The more I read about someof the experiences of those that work for pay, the happier I am that we are volunteers. We have had NOTHING but good experiences and national wildlife refuges are the best.

mick · 11-23-2008, 04:14 PM

Bill and Jan, I have a question for you? If the park did not use volunteers, who would do the jobs? Permament employees on govt payrolls, making upwards of 30 bucks an hour plus all the govt bennies? That is why they treat volunteers so well.

You are very smart to take advantage of it, BUT , comparing apples to apples, YOU are being taken advantage of, right? Cause if you do not get volunteers, you have to hire fulltime govt employess.

Dolph · 11-23-2008, 05:29 PM

Gee, Mick. I volunteered for 3 months this summer at a Nat'l Park and I did not feel like I was "taken advantage of". There were quite a few GS 4 and GS 5 rangers there. I did a Google search of Civil Service Pay and it seems to me that a top step GS 5 is in the range of $18.00 and change. The park was also using interns and seasonal employees in order to staff the park as well as volunteers. Where are you getting all the info that supports your position?

Gary RVRoamer · 11-24-2008, 04:57 AM

An $18/hour employee with benefits, vacations, holidays, etc. actually costs the employer $25-$30/hour. But seasonal employees don't get those benefits and that's what the Park Service and other agencies use for most of the summer job positions. They probably don't even get that much in pay either, but I'm out of touch on what seasonal Park Service positions are paying these days.