February 24, 2012

Finding a Job

I’ve been getting a lot of emails lately from people worried about making money while on the road. I talked about this a bit last summer in the Making a Living While Backseat Living post, but it’s about time that this was revisited for 2012.

Within the vehicle dwelling community there are literally hundreds of different occupations. People have found all kinds of things to do for short term work, and here are a few:
  1. Work camping: this is a great way to get experience is a bunch of different things and meet some great travelers while you’re at it.
  2. National Temp Agencies like Manpower or Labor Ready offer everything from filing to construction so if you ever need work fast, start here. I’ve worked for manpower on and off for years, whenever I needed a few extra hours of work. If you do a good job your reputation will follow you all over the country and you shouldn’t have trouble securing work wherever you end up.
  3. The National Park Service is always hiring someplace. During the summer they need everything from maintenance to educators, and guides to lawnmowers.
  4. I would also (once again) highly recommend The Backdoor Guide to Short Term Job Adventures which give hundreds of seasonal and short term jobs along with contact info, requirements, and salary.
These are just a few of the many ways to make money on the road. A member on the Cheap RV Living site recently recommended installing peep holes, David has been WOOFing, and others have tried everything from writing and art to flea markets and handyman jobs. Remember that many vehicle dwellers are stationary and work 9-5 jobs that all the “normal” people.
 
Start getting creative and really thinking about what you want to do. This lifestyle requires much less money than sticks and bricks which should allow you to really focus on the jobs you want to try rather than those you are forced into by financial necessity. For more information about finding work or to ask other vehicle dwellers about their expirience try the Money Matters section of the Cheap RV Living Forum. Good luck!
From the Desk of

4 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 24, 2012 at 3:54 PM

    Where in the world did you find David the Wwoofer ?

    http://alxadrift.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2012 at 11:18 AM

    Thanks for posting this, Ash.

    I am working at a job that has been detrimental to my legs... Though I really like the people I work with, the pain is excruciating every day that I work. You have given me some motivation to find something that will be a better fit. There's got to be some kind of work I can do without having to be on narcotic pain relievers all the time. :)

    Bradford
    http://vantrekker.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. BradFebruary 26, 2012 at 8:30 AM

    I just gave my notice at Home Depot and plan to quit in 2 weeks (or hopefully sooner!). Life's too short not to enjoy work. Though I love spending most of my time in the van, there's one side effect... My work ethic has kind of suffered. Without the need for much money, it's hard to give a care about certain corporate priorities such as selling credit cards... :-)

    Bradford
    VanTrekker

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ash NicholsFebruary 28, 2012 at 2:31 PM

      I managed a corporate cafe for a number of years and those credit card offers were nightmarish! That and upselling.

      Delete

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