halfwright
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2013
- Posts
- 1,212
I really do not consider myself an expert on the subject, but I would like to express my opinion based on 6 years of fulltiming and 10 different positions.
The workamping we have done (by workamping, I mean working at a private camp ground) has required more hours than volunteering (by volunteering, I mean working at a public camp ground run by a government entity. ) The managers at private camp grounds rarely expressed appreciation and seemed to think of workampers as a cost of doing business. They required more hours work, even for a gravel site with no extras in a park that I would have passed up if I had to pay to stay there.
Volunteering has been much better, with fewer hours worked, wonderful supervisors, and some of the prettiest camp sites I have seen.
We have spent two summers at Steamboat Lake State Park in Colorado and two winters at City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. Both have been wonderful places to volunteer and we feel that we are contributing to the betterment of the parks. We are told often that we are part of the backbone of the park and without volunteers, it would be impossible to provide the same level of service.
We are fortunate in that we do not have to depend on making money on the road, but volunteering does allow us to stay in an area for free. That does eliminate a main expense, camp site costs.
I do not mean to disparage anyone who wants or needs to work for money and travel full time, but we have found volunteering to be a much more pleasant experience.
Now, I want everyone to disagree with me and not try to volunteer. That leaves more open for me.
The workamping we have done (by workamping, I mean working at a private camp ground) has required more hours than volunteering (by volunteering, I mean working at a public camp ground run by a government entity. ) The managers at private camp grounds rarely expressed appreciation and seemed to think of workampers as a cost of doing business. They required more hours work, even for a gravel site with no extras in a park that I would have passed up if I had to pay to stay there.
Volunteering has been much better, with fewer hours worked, wonderful supervisors, and some of the prettiest camp sites I have seen.
We have spent two summers at Steamboat Lake State Park in Colorado and two winters at City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. Both have been wonderful places to volunteer and we feel that we are contributing to the betterment of the parks. We are told often that we are part of the backbone of the park and without volunteers, it would be impossible to provide the same level of service.
We are fortunate in that we do not have to depend on making money on the road, but volunteering does allow us to stay in an area for free. That does eliminate a main expense, camp site costs.
I do not mean to disparage anyone who wants or needs to work for money and travel full time, but we have found volunteering to be a much more pleasant experience.
Now, I want everyone to disagree with me and not try to volunteer. That leaves more open for me.