We're kicking off a brand new work camping season
at Crescent Lake Campground. Hear what it's really
like being a campground host, the perks and challenges
of the job, and why you should never take a volunteer
position if you want pay to be in your future.
Plus, work camping jobs you may not have heard
of, campfire etiquette, and Memorial Day tips
for last minute campers. Stay tuned. Welcome
to the Restless Nomads, the ultimate RV show
for modern -day rubber tramps and weekend warriors
alike. Whether you're chasing sunsets full -time,
savoring seasonal escapes, or just hitting the
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Budget hacks to campsite secrets. We've got you
covered. So buckle up, Nomads. And let's hit
the road to adventure. One mile at a time. Welcome
back to the Restless Nomads Radio Show. With
you here is Mike coming to you live from Crescent
Lake Campground and with me is Angie. Say hi
baby. Hi. And we are just getting started with
our camp hosting gig up here. If you want to
follow our adventures visit TheRestlessNomads
.com You can also YouTube search the Restless
Nomads and find us there. We've got the travel
blog along with videos and this radio show turned
podcast on the Restless Nomads dot com. For this
week's RV news update, we're bringing it to you
live from on the ground here at Crescent Lake
Campground in the Deschutes National Forests
campgrounds around the country opening right
now. Now I will tell you that all these jobs
are just getting started and everybody's just
opening so please bear with your campground hosts
and everybody gets kind of thrown into the fire
right off the bat. So campers be gentle. Lots
of services are in the early stages of ramping
up. Now we have opened and it was a little anticlimactic
kind of like Chevy Chase and Christmas Vacation
when he tried to turn on his Christmas lights.
We worked very hard for two days to get the campground
all ready and we went to lunch and came back
after we opened the gates and there was one camper
in our campground. Now that might have something
to do with the weather that is forecasted for
this weekend Supposed to be seeing some cooler
temperatures some rain and maybe even some thunderstorms.
So Fortunately, they're breaking us in a little
bit easy when it rains campers typically are
pretty disappointed campground hosts are grateful
for the most part Let's see what we got here.
So we wanted to talk a little bit about how this
whole work camping thing works, especially when
it comes to campground hosting. And we are in
the Deschutes National Forest. And the National
Forest will oftentimes contract a concessionaire.
And a concessionaire is just a company that agrees
to manage a section of the forest. They put a
bid in on it. They pay a flat rate and then they
take the profits from the forest. So they're
hoping that it'll be a good season and that they
will collect all those camping fees and extra
vehicle fees and firewood fees and all that kind
of stuff. They get to keep it. Now that's their
net profit after they pay the National Forest
Service. for the contract, which isn't cheap
at all. Now another model that you'll see is
the National Forest will manage campgrounds directly
and they just seek volunteers generally, which
we're going to get into that here in a little
bit. Some of the benefits for working for a concessionaire
and I'll just tell you about these current benefits
that we have and then we'll compare it to our
other two jobs that we've worked in the past.
One of the best benefits is a free site and one
of the biggest benefits that we have here at
Crescent Lake is the site is level. Now that
is incredible. At Lake Cachisse in Washington,
our site was far from level and we had it jacked
up probably a foot on one side. So not very level
and we got it there eventually, but it took some
doing. Another big benefit that we have here
are electric and water hookups Now at Lake Cachise
that was our first dry camping Adventure period
and we did it for an entire season. No hookups
whatsoever. We ran on generators and We had to
have water delivered and everything it was It
was difficult. It was really tough to say the
least after that job in 2023 at Lake Cachisse,
we decided that we will not take a job unless
there's electric hookups from here on out. At
minimum, it's gotta have electricity just because
of... our lifestyle you know when we're done
for the evening we want to watch TV and we want
to be able to lay in bed and watch TV and when
the generator has to go off at 10 o 'clock no
more TV unless you have a really sweet battery
bank and inverter set up we tried that and we
just kept on running out of juice in the middle
of the night so it wasn't for us and I think
it's important to know that about yourself you
know there's there's a lot of people that love
boondocking out there and that's great for them.
We can boondock maybe for two or three days but
for an entire summer that's pretty rough. Now
another benefit that we have here is that well
what they are saying is that they're going to
have someone come out here weekly with a honey
wagon or a septic truck and pump our black tank
out. I'll believe it when I see it. That's what
they're saying. They're saying they're gonna
send somebody out here to pump us out. But they
also said that when we worked for California
Land Management in 2020, and that was a great
experience. We worked for, actually it's California
Land Management was the concessionaire, and they
operated under Deschutes Recreation, who we're
operating under now. They said yeah, we'll have
a honey wagon come out there and it turns out
it was the maintenance guy that brought a blue
boy And then we had to haul our black water to
the vault toilet and dump it out ourselves And
that was three or four trips every single time
so I At least now know what to expect. That's
the worst case scenario. At least we've got a
vault toilet nearby. We have our own Blue Boy
so we can empty at any time. We're completely
self -sufficient out here. We could be out here
forever if it weren't for the snow. We've got
water. We've got electricity. I've got a Blue
Boy so we can dump the black and the gray tanks.
So we are good to go. Just have to go get our
propane every once in a while. Now at Lake Achise,
they actually supplied propane. They would fill
it up for you. You would have your tanks picked
up or you drop them off at the little headquarter
building and then they would fill it up for you.
Here, that's on us. We have to fill our own propane
and I'm more than happy to do it because they
are paying the electric bill. We don't pay any
electric whatsoever, so happy to pay for our
own propane. One thing that we've run into with
pretty much all three jobs that we've worked
for is that it can be a little difficult getting
supplies. Cleaning supplies, gloves, chemicals,
things like that. Usually you get just enough
to get you about two, three days and the management
generally highly underestimates what you're going
to need. And then things like pump sprayers and
stuff like that, usually they're broken. So if
you know that, going into it and you have your
own supplies like we do, we have our own pump
sprayer and our own litter pickers and things
like that that we've invested in just to make
our jobs easier and faster, then you'll have
a much better season. Now as far as chemicals
and stuff like that, that's just one of those
things you're gonna have to live with. And unless
you wanna shell out a bunch of money on latex
gloves, you're gonna have to keep pestering your
site supervisor or whoever to get you more latex
gloves. Pretty much every single day it seems
like. We try to build up a little bit of a surplus
because we know we're gonna burn through them
and then when we get down to a certain level,
that's when we start asking for more. because
it's very likely that if you go with what they
think you need you will quickly run out and it'll
be a big emergency. So you don't want that to
happen. Create yourself a little stash and you'll
know what you need better than anyone. You know
we change our gloves after every bathroom so...
That's probably coming from both of us working
in the medical field. And then we keep hand sanitizer
on our golf cart. So we do this clean. Well,
one of the things that, you know, we're thrilled
to be here. And despite some of the challenges,
they're actually not a real big deal considering
the benefits that come with this, you know. And
one of the things that I wanted to talk about
is the difference between volunteer jobs and
these paid jobs. And it's my personal opinion.
Now, you can take this with a grain of salt,
take it for what it's worth, but I don't take
volunteer jobs and neither does Angie for the
fact that if you take volunteer jobs, it will
send a message to people, to the people that
need work campers, campground hosts, that kind
of thing. If you take these volunteer jobs, what
you're doing is you're sending a message saying,
we're willing to do this for free. which is going
to ruin work camping for a lot of people out
there. A lot of people, this is their only income.
They work seasonally, they count on this cash
to travel throughout the year and so forth. So
we don't take the volunteer positions because
we do not want to devalue work camping and the
services that we provide. I know there's a lot
of folks out there that will take them. And I
would say that, you know, if you're going to
take a volunteer work camping job, make sure
that you are being treated fairly. You know,
if you're volunteering, you probably shouldn't
be cleaning bathrooms and things like that. And
I know that the state parks are all volunteer.
They try to mitigate that by not having their
camp hosts clean bathrooms. I'm more than happy
to clean the bathrooms as long as you pay us
for doing it. Now, one of the huge benefits,
you know, when we started this gig in 2020 was
our first work camping job and the pay back then
I think was around $12 .50 an hour. This year,
we've seen a huge increase for some reason in
this national forest. The concessionaires start
their campground host at $17 .25 an hour. So
we're really excited about that. And we certainly
wouldn't volunteer because you know that if they
can determine, oh, we can fill all these positions
with volunteers, there's no need to pay them.
You're undervaluing our role in the industry.
Just kind of a pet peeve of mine, I guess. I
do not like the volunteer jobs unless they come
with very minimal work, like, okay, well, I'll
keep an eye on the place sort of thing. But if
you're actually having to be out there raking
and cleaning fire pits and bathrooms and keeping
track of money and stuff like that, you deserve
to be paid. So we opened May 16th and we'll close
on October 14th, hopefully. Last year they actually
closed on July 23rd because of the red fire and
the camp host that was here got evacuated. So
did the resort next door. Lots of people within
the forest working and just recreating got evacuated
last July and unfortunately they sent all those
workers some Some had the option, you know, they
gave them choices, hey, we're short in this area,
would you mind covering? And they were able to
continue getting paid, but some of those folks
just had to go home. It's like being laid off,
essentially. We were talking to some of the resort
workers across the way and they said, yeah, we
save up our money every summer and live off of
it in the wintertime. And they said they just
really had a difficult winter. So keep that in
mind. Wildfire risk is real and evacuations can
happen. So you need to be able to adapt and improvise
and then overcome. Also, one of the things that
comes with that, you know, we've got this sweet
spot at Crescent Lake with the electricity and
the water and everything. If at some point during
the season they decide to evacuate our campground
and they say, well, we have coverage at another
one, say in July, it's very likely that that
one or two that is left. They're going to be
the runts of the litter. They're not going to
be as nice as sites. Probably no services because
even the people that were in there, if something
better came up, they already got into those better
places. You know, campground hosts and workers
are always looking for that premium spot. So
if a position opens up in a better spot and they're
allowed to move, you bet your bottom dollar that
they will. Now, this is. The time that we all
start, we applied for this job back in February.
So generally, to get these seasonal summer jobs,
you start applying in January, February, and
you're able to get your pick of spots. There's
lots of good spots. If you applied later in the
season, you'll very likely be able to get a job
because people drop out, you know, people decide
this isn't for me. Now as soon as, let's say
that there was a worker and they were in a campground
and they had this nice spot, they decided it
wasn't for me or they had a family emergency
and they decided, I can't do this, I gotta quit
and I gotta go. Well, whoever was in a less than
premium spot in that company is going to take
it and then they're gonna open up that campground.
So later in the season, if you wanna apply like
right now, you'll likely get a job but Don't
count on it being something desirable. It'll
probably be out there, dry camping, no hookups,
no internet, no cell coverage, nothing. That's
usually the ones that are left over. And we found
that to be true at Lake Cachise. That was a dry
camping, no connectivity situation because we
applied for it in May. I think we started in
June, which is rather late to be applying, but
we weren't really sure if we wanted to do it
until the very end and we said, ah, let's go
ahead and do it. So apply early to get the best
spots and make sure during your interviews that
you're asking questions about Starlink connectivity
and cell phone connectivity and is there power,
is there water, how do we get rid of black water,
that kind of thing. Now, one thing for us, after
Lake Cachisse and dry camping for that season,
we are non -negotiable. We require at least electric
hookups for these long -term jobs. You know,
we're here for five months and we don't want
to be on generators for five months. Messing
around, filling up the gas in a generator twice
a day because you're running your air conditioning
gets tedious after a while. And not having electricity
in the middle of the night is tedious as well.
And unless you want to invest in a big battery
bank and a high wattage inverter, you're going
to make some sacrifices. Now you already make
some sacrifices just being in an RV as far as
space goes, but We're not willing to make that
big of a sacrifice of not having electricity
overnight We just need it. So one of the first
questions when we get a call. Hey, would you
work this site? And we did we receive several
calls American land and leisure is another concessionaire
and we talked to them about a couple places and
One of the very first questions was does the
site have electricity and if they say no? Then
we say, sorry, we're going to keep looking. So
it's almost a two way interview because you're
going to be living there for five months. So
you need to make sure that you're happy where
you're living. Now let's talk about some unusual
work camping jobs. You know there is campground
hosting and that's what we've done for three
years. We've done the campground hosting thing
and some things that we may try in the future
and we've entertained one of these but we didn't
commit to it. So after this season is over, it
doesn't mean that work camping is over. You can
move south to Arizona and Southern California,
the southwest in particular, even Texas and Florida
and the southeast. They still have campground
hosting jobs. Now there are fewer of them and
they are in higher demand. So be aware that it's
going to be harder to get campground hosting
jobs during the winter just because what was
a nationwide demand now has been isolated to
below the Mason -Dixon line, you know, where
the temperatures are still nice. So know that
going in and get those applications in early
like May right now is a good time to be applying
for those wintertime gigs, especially the longer
term ones. Now I wanted to mention Pumpkin patches,
they hire. These are shorter term commitments
and might be kind of fun for some folks. Usually
pumpkin patches will hire for two or three weeks.
Same with Christmas tree lots. They usually hire
work campers. Now depending on where you're at,
you may be in a winterized camper unless you
have some really good insulated pipes or something
like that. And being in an insulated camper without
water can be a challenge too. One of the ones
that we've entertained is oil rig gate guarding.
And that is super, it's kind of isolating. It's
usually out in the middle of nowhere. And you
go out there, they give you a company generator
that you can run 24 hours a day because you are
out there by yourself. but they pay really really
good to sit there and count vehicles at an oil
rig in Texas or in Louisiana. It's like $10 ,000
a month is not uncommon for that so a great way
to save up some money And usually they're 30
day commitments. So I have heard of people going
down and doing it for two or three months. You
walk away after three months at 30 grand, you
can travel for the rest of the year pretty comfortably.
And then there are some less than traditional
work, camping jobs like just your normal remote
jobs that you do over the Internet. In fact,
we're managing this radio station while campground
hosting at Crescent Lake. I don't often advertise
that fact on the morning show during the week
or anything, but yep, we are up here and I am
coming to you live from Crescent Lake Campground
on Klamath Country Mornings every weekday morning.
If you want to find a gig, several ways to see
some job listings, just Google work camping jobs
and that's work. and then A -M -P -I -N -G so
combined W -R -K -A -M -P -I -N -G jobs and if
you misspell it I'm sure it'll still pull it
up but you'll see all kinds of work camping jobs
and there are different kinds different categories
for RVers which is us van lifers have some of
their own job categories and even dorm living
situations for younger folks generally like let's
say Crater Lake You can go work at Crater Lake,
and if you don't mind living in a dorm setting,
mostly the 20 -something -year -olds that do
that stuff, then that's an option for you. And
we've even heard of people that do the campground
hosting in a tent, so there's all kinds of cool,
neat opportunities for folks. If you want to
travel and you want to work, A multitude of ways
to do that one of the biggest resources and I
don't get paid from these guys But we use them
a lot is work camper comm and that's or just
Google work camping news That's a paid service.
I think it's about $45 a year But they have vetted
employers and you can actually go in and review
what other work campers have said about those
employers They you can leave employer reviews,
which is pretty nice in and they are, everything's
vetted. So it just weeds out all the scams and
things like that. So check that out. It's a workcamper
.com if you're looking for a good work camping
job. And if you are seriously looking for it,
it's worth the $45 a year. Well, hey, let's take
a break now and we'll come back. We're gonna
talk a little bit about Memorial Day tips if
you don't have a reservation. This is Dave. Dave
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results. All right, we're back from the break.
Don't forget to check out goldcountryradio .org.
That is Klamath Falls Classic Country Connection.
You can check out all kinds of things on there.
Under featured shows, you'll be able to hear
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grateful for that. You guys made a passion project
and a life dream a reality. So let's talk about
some Memorial Day tips if you don't have reservations.
Hopefully you do and if you do you'll likely
be in a very busy campground. We have a full
sheet on our daily arrival reports that we get
for campground hosting. Every single spot is
booked for Memorial Day and it's all the same
Friday through Monday. So if you want to go camping
and you don't have a reservation you might you
might try some of these first come first serve
sites like we have five out of forty seven that
are first come first serve but you better get
here on like a Wednesday to ensure that you're
gonna get a spot and there's no guarantees even
then so just keep that in mind now if you're
just really in a pinch you didn't plan you didn't
get a reservation in time Here it is, it's Friday,
you didn't get out to the campground until three
o 'clock and you're finding there's just no first
come first serve sites, then you should know
about this. Did you know that in the National
Forest or on Bureau land management land, you
can camp anywhere that there is not a no camping
sign? And you need to be looking around and making
sure that there is no signs that would indicate
that you're not allowed to camp there. Now if
it says day use, obviously, that's essentially
the same thing as a no camping sign, right? especially
if it lists the hours from 6 a .m. to 10 p .m.
or whatever. But anywhere in the National Forest,
like up near Sisters, there's all kinds of little
turnoffs. Down in Klamath, same thing. If you
head towards Lake of the Woods, all kinds of
National Forest Service roads. And you're allowed
to camp in those areas for up to 14 days for
free. No questions asked just look around make
sure there are no signs and you're not in any
place That's dangerous or anything like that.
So that is one option for you if you have not
Gotten a first come sight or a reservation and
it's a little late in the game as far as Memorial
Day goes now be aware that when the fire bands
come disperse camping will be the first ones
to be affected so right now you're okay to have
a fire in the national forest but as soon as
the inkling of a fire ban comes around that'll
go away quickly they'll go to where you can have
fires only in designated campgrounds which is
why some people the only reason some people booking
campgrounds is when that starts because they
want to have a campfire and they can't do it
out in the national forest while they're dispersed
camping So keep that in mind also keep in mind
if you're like backpacking or something like
that someplace that you can't drive It's very
likely that you may need a wilderness permit
check with your nearest ranger station about
that Now we touched briefly on campfires and
fire bans and one of the biggest things Keep
this in mind too, so like the area near La Pine,
they had a really bad fire last year and they
preemptively have enacted a fire ban so there
are no campfires in that federally managed land
just because they're so gun -shy after a campfire
last year set off a devastating wildfire. So
make sure you know the fire bans and fire restrictions
where you're going We'll tell you on any public
land. It is generally prohibited to have any
kind of fireworks So make sure you're not doing
that. That's pretty standard Now let's talk about
some campground etiquette One of the biggest
misconceptions that campers have, especially
new campers, is that it's okay to toss trash
in the fire pit. Now, if you've got a paper plate
and there's an act of fire going and you throw
it in there and it burns up, great. But before
you leave... Firstly, you got to make sure your
fire's out because that is a huge no -no. And
if you don't put your fire out, it's not like
it just smolders out and it goes away. No. The
campground host comes around and has to put your
fire out for you. So you're creating a lot of
work for the campground host who's already trying
to catch up on keeping the place clean for the
next campers. When you just leave a fire smoldering,
that means we got to put it out just just so
you know. Also keep in mind that no matter how
well behaved your dog is it needs to be leashed.
Why? Because even though your dog may be behaved
very well others may not be and if they see a
dog off leash it can just create all kinds of
problems. Keep your dogs leashed if you're around
other folks in a campground. If you want to let
your dogs off a leash, go out in the woods and
go disperse camping. Get out there by yourself
and let them roam. Remember to pick up after
your pet, especially in these campgrounds. They're
just like hotels. They see a lot of traffic.
It's a public area. It's not like being out in
the middle of the wilderness. These are highly
trafficked places and no one wants to pick up
your dogs. Poo poo. Especially not your favorite
campground host. We speak from experience. Also
keep in mind that if you're going to be out and
listening to music and stuff, not everyone loves
your playlist. So if you're going to do that
at the campground, just try to be respectful
and you got to know the vibe. You got to know
the vibe of the campground you're going to and
you can kind of read the room when you get there.
Some parks are for partiers and others are for
quiet family time or older folks are there and
you'll quickly get a sense of that. You'll even
get different areas within a campground that
will kind of just migrate one way or the other.
There'll be half the campground that's kind of,
okay, all the families settled here, and then
the other half of the campground, given the choice,
they self -segregate. So one will be the party
crowd and the other will be the relaxation crowd.
Read the room, know where you're at, and make
sure you're respectful of whatever's going on
there. Just some food for thought. Well, hey
guys Thank you so much for tuning in and we want
to tell you if you're looking for a work camping
gig again don't estimate don't underestimate
the value of Living comfortably in our case the
electric hookups and even the most scenic site
can feel like a chore without enough power especially
for these really long term stays. So I'll use
that old adage, know thyself. If you're looking
for work camping jobs, make sure that you are,
you know what you're getting into. If you're
getting into a dry camping situation, Angie and
I would say, that sucks, but maybe you'll be
fine. I don't know. We wouldn't do it again.
We didn't really understand what we were getting
into for five months of no electricity, right?
Make sure you listen out for all the community
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and everything else get posted there You can
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about work camping or campground life work camping
life. We'd love to hear from you You can drop
us a message on the restless nomads comm and
we'll get back to you and let you know exactly
What we think you know if you're looking to pull
the trigger on this thing I know it's a lifelong
dream of many and few actually realize it. I'm
here to tell you it is a blast You should do
it. Get out there and enjoy it. Until next time,
happy camping and safe travels. This from the
Restless Nomads, Mike and Angie. Back to your
regular programming here on Gold Country Radio.