A road-life friend of ours once said that losing her job was the best gift she’d ever received. Without that jolt to her normal routine, she swears that she’d still be plodding a worn path waiting for the day to retire, instead of living the exciting new life she’s created. All it took was a corporate downsize.
Finding work while traveling requires creativity, resourcefulness, flexibility and an ability to see yourself in a new light. Luckily our friend already had these qualities in spades. Rather than seeing herself as her resume implied, with a list of professional positions, she saw herself as a collection of skills that apply to a variety of settings. Thinking outside the confines of your well-grooved career path is key to discovering a whole host of new opportunities. And if you’re just starting out, learning this lesson early is essential to success.
Since 2012, we’ve found plenty of paid work opportunities (both online and in-person) while traveling in our little vintage canned-ham camper named Hamlet. Has every job been awesome? Nope. But through each, whether sublime or subpar, we learned, laughed, and kept our road life rolling.
If you catch yourself wondering if you’re ready to start the road life yourself, we can help you find out.
Agree with These 10 Statements? You Might Be Ready to Work from Your RV
Any of these sound like with where you are right now?
- “Breaking up my routine and establishing new ones seems interesting and exciting.”
- “I want to go to new places, and get to know them more intimately than just a short vacation.”
- “I can get creative about taking care of my life stuff, like laundry, mail, grocery shopping and showers.”
- “I love having friends and work colleagues all over the country.”
- “Learning new things and taking on new roles doesn’t rattle me, so long as I have the support of good trainers and supervisors.”
- “I’d finally like the chance to simply do my job, punch out, and not think about work all the time.”
- “If something needs to be done, I’m gonna do it.”
- “I’d love to live close to the places everyone goes to on vacation, and help them enjoy it.”
- “I don’t usually keep traditional work hours, I’d rather keep my own and get the work done when it needs to be.”
- “I really feel like I could do my work from anywhere.”
If you agreed — or mostly agreed — with these statements, then working from the road might just be for you.
Another friend out’s job went online during the pandemic. She decided to never go back. She’s able to do her job, on her own time, while traveling and exploring in her RV with her retired partner. Sure: She needs a good Wi-Fi connection and a few daily hours of focused attention. But she’ll keep doing this, she says, until they make her go back into the office.
Everyone’s situation will be different, some people will need to work full-time to keep the health insurance and pay college tuition, while others may decide that they no longer want to maintain their former lifestyle. An RV lifestyle can be far less expensive than you’d expect, but it all depends on how you do it. (Stay tuned for more in our blog series on Cutting RV Travel Costs!)
Remote RV Job Opportunities
Consider this your new job board if you want to work from you RV! Just a few categories to get you daydreaming …
- Seasonal jobs and side gigs are the name of the game if you seek to work full or part-time in beautiful parts of the country. From campgrounds, outdoor outfitters, state/national parks to retail stores, lodges, restaurants, and more.
- Online jobs are plentiful both full or part-time. This type of work allows you to be wherever you want to be, so long as you have enough power and connectivity. Since the 2020 pandemic, this category has simply exploded!
- Many careers offer traveling opportunities. While the medical field offers opportunities for traveling nurses, doctors, radiologists, and veterinarians, we’ve also met accountants, construction workers, financial advisors, videographers, graphic designers, occupational therapists, writers, sales people, photographers, and many others.
- Work-trade opportunities abound in national/state parks, as well as through Workamping, organic farming, and various volunteer opportunities which cover your stay in exchange for a few days per week of work.
- Starting your own mobile business. Millions of people have figured out how to do this while traveling – including ourselves with Freedom in a Can, LLC. We do writing, photography, videography, and seminars – all from the convenience of our camper, and all with solar power.
It’s not your resume, per se, but your abilities, skills, and previous experiences that make you such a great hire! Stay tuned: In the next article, we’ll break down how — and where — to find some of these cool jobs.
Want to learn more about working from the road? This article is part of our Working from the Road 101 series.
The Essential Mindset to Work from Your RV (Part 1)
Seasonal RV Jobs and Side Gigs: How to Find Them (Part 2)
Everything You Need to Work Remotely from Your RV (Part 3)
RV Work Trade and Volunteering (Part 4, Coming Soon)
