The last few years have seen a revolution in many workers’ jobs and lifestyles, making it easier than it used to be to work from home or the road. If you’re interested in traveling without waiting for a vacation, there are options to make money RVing!
We’ll look at some of the different ways to make money RVing, and at tips for workamping or working remotely.
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Become a “Workamper”
A workamper is someone who works while camping. Workampers make money RVing by taking seasonal jobs, or temporary jobs in different places, and they tend to move around to different jobs throughout the year.
- Move with the seasons: You can pick your weather as a workamper – try a job at a Colorado ski resort in winter, or a Florida state park if you’re trying to escape the cold.
- Outdoor options: There are lots of workamping opportunities for adventurous, outdoorsy people as well. You could get a job at a national or state park, or rent skis, kayaks, or other equipment in a resort area. Campgrounds, restaurants, cafes, outfitters, and a variety of other companies need help at different times of the year.
- Earning potential: Most workamper positions are customer-service-style jobs that probably won’t earn employees much more than minimum wage. However, some campgrounds will work on a trade basis. They may agree to waive your campground fee if you work a certain number of hours each week, and then pay you for any additional work on an hourly basis.
- Remote work: You can also work remotely, spending a few hours each day earning money and a few hours exploring the area where you’re camping that day.
How to Get Started
If you’re looking to make money RVing, you can get started by searching for seasonal jobs online, and plan your travel around the jobs that you get.
- Online sites: You’ll find lots of outdoorsy jobs all across the country listed at CoolWorks. You might also consider a remote job like working as a call center operator or a customer service liaison for a company like Amazon or Google. FlexJobs lists lots of telecommuting jobs, including some that are temporary or seasonal so you’re not committed long-term.
- A resource for RVers: You can also consult Workamper News, a website dedicated to remote jobs just for RVers who live on the road. There is a fee to subscribe to the site, but you’ll get job suggestions tailored to your RV lifestyle, along with other resources for people who make money RVing.
- How to plan: If you work remotely, it will help to maintain a schedule so you’re getting the hours you need to afford your lifestyle. Calculate how much you’ll need to live on, divide that by your hourly rate, and you’ll be able to see how many hours to schedule each week for work! It can help to plan those hours out ahead of time each week. If you’ll be driving one day, you may want to work more the day before or after so you can take it easy after a long drive.
- Get ready: If you’re taking a seasonal job, you’ll need to think about whether you need to buy clothing for the weather or if you need any other items for your new job.
Workamping Considerations
There are some things you’ll have to consider while you make money RVing.
- WiFi: If you’re working remotely, you’ll need to make sure you have reliable WiFi access. That may be WiFi provided by the campground, or you could use a local cafe or library to work.
- WiFi challenges: You’ll need to see if a cafe or restaurant has guidelines for how long you’re able to set up and work at their facility. And while campgrounds often have WiFi, it can often be sketchy.
- Equipment purchases: You may need to invest in some equipment if you plan to work from the road. You’ll likely need a laptop if you don’t already have one.
- Repeater: You may also want a WiFi extending antenna or repeater — the Ubiquiti NanoStation M2 comes highly recommended by remote nomads.
- Hotspot: Another option is to invest in a personal WiFi hotspot, such as AT&T’s Velocity 4G LTE Mobile WiFi Hotspot or Verizon’s Ellipsis Jetpack 4G LTE Mobile WiFi Hotspot – MHS800L. Keep in mind that you’ll pay an additional cost for each gigabyte of data you use. Plans and prices vary by network.
It’s possible to live a life on the road and make money RVing! Hopefully, these tips have helped you to make that process a little easier.
