Wor Camping Options

[RLM]

There has not been much discussion on the website about work camping so I decided to start the topic. I am sure that there are members of the site who do work camping and some that would like to get into it. I suspect that both categories could improve the learning curve for each other.

Some ideas to respond to:

1- Who works for only a free site and who works for the money? Why do you do either?
2- What's the best way to get started?
3- Because of the lack of work camping experience and competition for jobs, does one have to accept the first offer even if it isn't suited for you?
4- How much effort and time does it take to get the idea work camper job? What is involved?
5- Is work camping in a commercial campground preferable to a public one like a national park or forest service?
6- What is your best and worst experience?
7- For those who have work camped, what is the one (one only) valuable piece of advise you could give someone considering it?
8- For those who are just getting into the work camping thing, what's the most annoying aspect of the process?

[abbygolden]

1- Who works for only a free site and who works for the money? I only volunteer.
Why do you do either? Because I like the freedom to walk away if I feel something is not right (FYI - I've never had to do this).

2- What's the best way to get started? Since I've only done state parks, I decided where I wanted to go and then started making phone calls and emails. All was based on the state's web site for Parks and Recreation. Easy to do.

3- Because of the lack of work camping experience and competition for jobs, does one have to accept the first offer even if it isn't suited for you? I didn't have to, although you don't always get the place you may have wanted as your first choice.

4- How much effort and time does it take to get the idea work camper job? I assume you mean ideal as opposed to idea. Anyway, I wouldn't accept one that I didn't think was right for me where I could add value to the camping experience of those who used the cg where I was. What is involved? I'm not sure what you mean by "what is involved."


5- Is work camping in a commercial campground preferable to a public one like a national park or forest service? Some sez yes, some sez no. Me, I prefer state parks.

6- What is your best and worst experience? My best (two) are working at a light house and working at a Chinese museum (both in Oregon). My worst was also in Oregon, working at a park where the staff really was next to worthless and could care less about the volunteers. That wasn't a fun two months and I would've walked away had not my wife reminded me that I had given my word.

7- For those who have work camped, what is the one (one only) valuable piece of advise you could give someone considering it? You really need to be flexible in how you deal with others as many of the campers tend to think you are their mother and should clean up their messes. You also need to be able to adapt to changing situations fairly quickly.

8- For those who are just getting into the work camping thing, what's the most annoying aspect of the process? I really don't think there is anything really bad at first as it is all a nex experience. The "bad" parts MAY come later - hopefully not.