When I first started out on this nomadic lifestyle things were so much different than they are today. It was great if you didn’t need to work to support yourself. Some of the conveniences we enjoy today were not readily available back then, and it made things a bit more challenging. But if you had a steady income from a source other than working, then life was so much easier.
I remember being employed at the Grand Canyon back in 2000/2001. Cell service was pretty much unavailable. I had to travel 10 miles just to get a minimal signal so that I could call family and friends. Email was a hassle. Without a hardwire phone line you could pretty much forget about internet service. The library in the village didn’t even have internet back then.
Working while traveling meant you had to stop for a period of time and get a job. There was very little opportunity to support yourself online while traveling. As I mentioned, internet service was limited to a hardwire phone line, or, if you were lucky the library in the area you were had a computer you could use for a limited amount of time.
Nowadays life is so much simpler. We have online banking, social media to stay touch with family and friends, and supporting oneself through blogging, affiliate programs, crafts, product sales, etc.
I am not going to share with you ideas on how to earn money online. You probably know more than I do about such things. There are still some of us, though, that enjoy stopping in one spot for an extended period of time and don’t mind doing a little work for a site. It’s the way I traveled for years. I would work while everyone else was on vacation, and travel while everyone else was working.
What I am going to do is supply you with a few links that will take you to websites that offer seasonal employment. A few even offer full-time employment. Some of these will pay you a wage, some will trade work for a site, some do both, and some of these websites I’ve listed will only offer links to employment opportunities.
I have worked in several National Parks (check out my map of where I’ve worked). If the links I provide do not take you to the park you are interested in, you can always do what I have done in the past—call the park and ask what company holds the concessions contract. Then go to their website and check out employment opportunities. Not all places will have RV sites, so you have to do your homework before applying.
State parks are great places to work, too. A good many of them, though, seek volunteers. As with National Parks, some of them have RV sites, some don’t. Seasonal work with NPS or the state, is always an option, too. But, once again, one of the first things to inquire about is availability for living in your RV.
So, without further adieu, here are those links I promised:
- Coolworks (a great place to get information on seasonal job opportunities)
- Workamper News (another good place for seasonal job opportunities)
- Xanterra Parks & Resorts
- Aramark
- Forever Resorts
- Delaware North
- Ortega Parks
- Vail Resorts
- USAJobs (all types of Federal Employment)
- Seasonal Employment
- KOA
- America Land & Leisure
- Workers on Wheels
This list is just a beginning. There are so many opportunities for the nomadic minority, and things are getting better. With a little digging I’m sure you can come up with many, many more websites that will take you to where you want to be.
Several years ago I kept up a website so that family and friends could keep track of my whereabouts and what I was up to. This was before blogging got big. I am going to include a few articles I posted back then (with minor modifications, of course) to give you an idea of what life on the road was like. Most of these date back several years, so keep that in mind when reading them.
- Living in a National Park
- Working in a National Park
- Living and Working at The Grand Canyon
- Living and Working at Bryce Canyon
- Living and Working at Big Bend
- Living and Working at The Tetons
- Working at The Grand Canyon Railway
- Working Seasonally at Amazon (it’s gotten so much easier than it used to be)
I hope all of this has been of some benefit for you. Living the life of a modern day nomad is not for everyone, but those of us that do have found enjoyment beyond our wildest dreams. Most of us would never go back to life before the road.