Phil: We just spent the whole month of October working as a Camp Host. And we drug our friends
from Life Beyond the Burbs along with us. Stacy: So was it worth it? Find out the pros
and cons of work camping, and if we'll do it again after the intro.
Phil: Before we start, let's talk definitions. Stacy: Yes. Let's talk about the difference
between camp hosting, or park hosting, and work camping. So some people think they're
two totally different things, but actually they all mean the same thing. Work camping
is actually a word that was created and patented by, let me check my notes. Work Camper News
in 1987. So here's what the patent says. It says work campers are adventurous individuals,
couples and families who have chosen a wonderful lifestyle that combines any kind of part-time
or full-time work with RV camping. If you work as an employee, operate a business, or
donate your time as a volunteer and sleep in your RV, then you are a work camper. So
Camp Host, though, usually goes for private camp grounds and Park Host is usually at like
state parks and national parks. So usually that's how people refer to them, but it all
means pretty much the same thing. So it includes any activity that involves the exchange of
labor hours for anything of value. And that value could be a salary, or it could be a
free campsite. Phil: Like what we had while we were here.
Stacy: Right. Now that that's all cleared up, let's talk about what our job requirements
were while we were here in North Carolina. So I worked on the inside in the office. I
took reservations, I accepted payments for people who had only paid deposits. I oriented
new campers to this area. Phil: Okay.
Stacy: Why are you looking at me strange? Phil: I'm just, all I can see is you sitting
the whole time. Okay. Stacy: Do you see what I'm dealing with here?
Phil: I was doing all the hard, heavy lifting while you were sitting.
Stacy: Yeah. Phil: Orienting new people.
Stacy: You haven't lifted much heavy in a while.
Phil: Yes I have. Stacy: As I was saying before I was so rudely
interrupted, I assisted guests in completing their paperwork when they checked in, answered
phone calls, questions, anything that was in the office. Phil, on the other hand, I
never saw him in the office, except for of course when I was giving him his assignment
sheet for the day. Phil: That's right. So I would check in with
her every morning, like I have every morning for the last 31 years, nothing changed. But
I would go in, and in the morning I would get the sheet that let me know who was leaving,
and who was coming in. Those that were leaving by 11 was the checkout time. We would then
go and check the sites, make sure the breakers were off, water was kept, the sewer cover
was on, things like that, check for trash. And then when a guests came in, I would escort
them to their site so that they got in the correct way and they didn't impede in other
campsites, if you will. Some of the other things we did is we did minor maintenance
in and around the park as well. I think That's pretty much it.
Stacy: Well, except for the closed down stuff that you guys had to do. So this park is only
open seasonally. So when we leave here, the park is closed until next April.
Phil: So we did have to prep the RV park to close, and it was basically just doing some
maintenance, on maintenance in and around the park. We had to blow down some leaves
to move tables, move benches, things like that so that they don't mysteriously walk
away over the winter. Stacy: Yeah. But nothing too treacherous.
Nothing like bathroom's like we did at our last camp host gig.
Phil: Yeah. And that was a priority when we were coming here. The one thing I was not
going to do was clean toilets again. Stacy: So if anybody wants to see Phil scrubbing
a toilet, or if you already saw our video and you saw him scrubbing the toilet, make
sure you put toilet in the comments below, in all caps so we can all laugh.
Phil: Yeah, ha ha, not laughing. Stacy: So let's talk about our required work
hours for the month. While we were here, we worked with three other couples. So our duties
required us to be here for two days, and they were each eight hour days for both of us.
And then we got six days off, and then we started the cycle again. So between the two
of us, we worked 32 hours over an eight day period. Our site was $991 bucks for the month,
which we got for free. And I guess you could throw in our gas savings on top of that.
Phil: Yeah, we saved about $500 in fuel by sitting here for the month. So that's a substantial
savings that stayed right in our pockets for the month of October.
Stacy: So was it worth it to us? Before we tell you if it was worth it to us, check out
what some of our friends said about their camp hosting.
Stacy: Hello everyone. My name is Stacy. My husband and I had the pleasure of work camping
for the Florida State Park System, specifically John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park down
in the Florida Keys. We worked there for two months in the summer of 2018, and we absolutely
loved every single minute of it. If you've never looked into the Florida State Park System,
they are all consistently the same as in they do not pay you an hourly wage. Instead, you
exchange 20 hours of your time every single week, and that would be for you and your spouse.
They do accept single people, so if you're a single, that's okay. It's still only 20
hours a week, and in exchange they provide you with a full hookup site. Now each park
is a little different in other things that they may or may not provide. At John Pennekamp,
they also included a glass bottom boat tour. They included a free snorkel trip as well
as a free kayak rental. Stacy: For them, they looked at this as training,
so that the clients coming through or the campers coming through, anyone interested
in those activities, we would have already experienced them, and could better explain
them to the people coming to camp there. So I thought that was a really neat way of providing
a little extra to the work campers as well as educating us a little more. Now my husband
and I would absolutely recommend volunteering for the Florida State Park System to anyone.
I am huge on work camping, and I believe it is a great way to see the country, as well
as make a little extra money. John Pennekamp does a great job of hiring multiple people.
That way the work is evenly distributed between everyone, and it doesn't feel like you're
really busting your butt for that free spot. So it really is a great opportunity to spend
about two months down in the Florida Keys, and although you're not getting paid, what
you learn at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, and the friendships that you make there,
it is worth more than any money that they could pay you.
Stacy: And if I could give you any advice, I would definitely say that when it comes
to work camping, whether you're a Camp Host, or you get any other position, think of it
as any job that you go to. The people can make or break it, so other people that you
are work camping with, they can make or break your experience. The management can make or
break your experience, and the job itself could make or break your experience. I feel
like if you're open-minded, you will have no problem with work camping, or camp hosting.
Whatever you decide to do, I think that you will really find it enjoyable. But again,
it is a job, and it is different from place to place, so just keep that in mind. It's
not going to be consistent across the board, because there's a lot of RV parks all over
the nation. Some are government ran, some are privately owned, and they will all be
different. I wish you all the best of luck. Donna: Hi, I'm Donna.
Chris: Hi, I'm Chris. Donna: And we are Run Away With the Clarks.
And we've hosted at two. One was in Texas, and one was in Florida. And what do you like
about hosting? Chris: I like meeting all the different people
that work there, all the rangers specifically at state parks, and I liked all the people
that, well, I like watching all the RVs come in, and know what they're doing and hookup
and disconnect and pull off of with their antennas up.
Donna: What I liked the most of anything is bartering. I love the idea of being able to
barter. So we paid for the site with our work. Chris: But the Texas one, we didn't have sewer,
so we had to set up for sewer. We had electric and water, but in Florida we had full hookups,
including like 72 channels of cable, and everything. Donna: What part of park hosting did you dislike?
Chris: In the Texas State Park at Lake Ray Roberts, there's not anything I disliked except
leaving all the people that we met there. Donna: That's the hardest part. There's nothing
about the park hosting that I disliked, nothing. Chris: In Texas.
Donna: In Texas, at all. It was wonderful. Chris: So what about Florida? What did you
dislike most about Florida? Donna: Well, there's several things. Florida,
we had schedules. We had a set schedule we had to do all the time. We didn't have that
in Texas. Chris: Texas, we were just told do 24, and
it was on the honor system, and it was split between the two of us, and that's the interpretation
at Florida also, when we get to the park, we were told-
Donna: When we called and asked for it, and we accepted, she told us that it was going
to be 24 hours a spot- Chris: Per week.
Donna: And we could split it. We ended up working 32 hours a week.
Chris: Or more. Donna: Or more, because there was a lot to
do, but it came down to it, they said they were going to try something else out, and
instead of doing 32 hours a week, they wanted us to do eight hours a day. If you do four
days of that, that's 32 hours, times two, that's 64 hours.
Chris: In a week, per spot. Donna: Per slot, and that's just unacceptable.
You got to make sure that you get things in writing, that you know exactly what's expected-
Chris: What's your expectations? Donna: Yeah, of both parties, their side and
our side, and make sure- Chris: And I would not do it again without
meeting the park host coordinator first, and the management. Texas, that's what we did.
Florida, we did it sight unseen. Donna: We talked to her.
Chris: We had never even been to the park. I would not do it again without visiting the
park first. Donna: All in all, yes, we would do it again.
Yes, it's worth it. And just grin and bear it if you've got a bad one, and go onto your
next one. Chris: Again, it's a service you're providing
and they're bartering with you. Donna: That's right.
Chris: Well, good luck. Hopefully this helped y'all out.
Stacy: So would you consider doing a camp hosting gig? So if you could put the word
camp down below to tell us you're interested in doing a camp hosting gig. Also, if you've
already done a gig, put your comments down below and let everyone know what you thought
about it. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Will you never do it again? This will really
help people who are researching camp hosting. Phil: Yeah. So make sure you add the pros
and cons to the job that you did, and where you did it.
Stacy: You know, not every camp hosting gig is a good one. Some people have bad experiences.
So any tips you have, put them below because it can really help somebody else.
Phil: Absolutely. Stacy: Speaking of tips, I do have a ton of
tips and interview questions for you before you get your first, and agree to your first
camp host gig. And I'll put the link to that video above so you can click on that for those.
Phil: Good stuff. Stacy: All right, so you ready to tell them?
Phil: Let's tell them. Stacy: So did you love it or hate it?
Phil: I was kind of in the middle. Stacy: I was too.
Phil: Yeah, I was kind of in the middle. Stacy: We never agree.
Phil: No. Stacy: Shocking. So would you do it again?
Phil: It depends. It would just have to be the right one for me.
Stacy: Yeah. And that is a big part of it. What are your duties? What are your hours?
What's the location? So the big part of it for us is we don't like sitting still very
long. So a month even for us, we really started getting antsy, and wanted to go, and to be
honest, I left behind my nine to five. That clocking in and out thing really is difficult
now that we've had this freedom to move about. Phil: Yeah. Having a schedule was kind of
a chore. Don't get me wrong, everybody can do it. We obviously did it.
Stacy: The people we worked with were great. Of course we spent all of our days with Life
Beyond the Burbs. So you know we had a blast there, and we also had all of our friends
come in while we were here, and that really broke it all up. So we got to hang out with
Our Epic Field Trip. Phil: Run Away With the Clarks.
Stacy: And Changing Lanes. Phil: Changing Lanes.
Stacy: So they were all here with us, and it may time go by really fast.
Phil: It did. You know, having a mini reunion with your RV roadies is always a good thing.
Stacy: Thanks for popping in and joining our You, Me & the RV community. We are so glad
you guys are here, and we love all of your comments, because it really helps all of us
learn and grow in our RVing community. So please post as many comments as you want below
and share your work camping experience. And while you're at it, be sure and hit that subscribe
button. Phil: Give us a thumbs up and hit that notification
bell. Stacy: And stand by for the bloopers.
Phil: Talk about what you did, and talk about what I did, and you'll roll that beautiful
bean footage. Stacy: Bean footage.
Donna: And if you have any questions, ask Stacy
Stacy: Duty. Phil: Don't say duty again.
Stacy: Duty. Duty. Duty. Okay.
Stacy: I dont know what to do with my hands.
Phil: Just put them right here. Stacy:: Okay. All right. Go ahead.
Phil: Like Will Ferrell. I don't know what to do with my hands.
Stacy: I don't know what to do with them. Phil: Okay.
Stacy: Formed. That thing moved. Phil: You're killing me Smalls.
You better do it. She asked you to do it.