Episode 4: What is Workamping? The Truth about Amazon Camperforce and Workamping Jobs with Sharee Collier

Workamping is a great way to start the RV lifestyle. In some cases, you’ll get a little income to help you out on the road, or you can choose workamping jobs that provide you a place to stay in exchange for your service. Or, it can be a combination of both.

With workamping jobs, you can do a variety of activities like being a campground host, working at Amazon Camperforce, participating in the Sugar Beet Harvest, or running a Christmas tree stand.

Workamping is also a great way to meet other RVers and van lifers and start creating your community.

In this episode, we’ll talk to workamping expert Sharee Collier, who also runs LiveCampWork.com. Sharee has worked at Amazon Camperforce THREE times and has some surprising insights about the program.

She has tips on how to find workamping jobs, what types of jobs are out there and how to spot scams.

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Who is Sharee Collier and What’s Her Experience with Workamping?

Sharee, her husband and four kids wanted a new life back in 2013. They were bored with the status quo, so decided to try RVing. They figured they could make money on the road by workamping, so joined Amazon Camperforce.

Sharee has worked as a park ranger, activities director and general manager while workamping. Both she and her husband like working short-term jobs, which provided a free spot to camp while exploring the surrounding area.

Sharee’s books:

• Live Camp Work: A Beginner’s Guide to Workamping
• Go Full Time Guided Workbook and Planner

Sharee also runs LiveCampWork.com, which provides a central resource for RVers looking for information on RV jobs and how to make money on the road. The site also includes tips on location-independent careers.

Sharee has hands on experience in working seasonal RV jobs as well as being a digital nomad with a full-time remote career. Her goal is to pass on useful information that helps those interested in RVing reach their dreams fast with the fewest number of hurdles possible!

Sharee has been traveling full-time with her husband, four kids and a Chihuahua for 7+ years with no plans on stopping anytime soon.

If you prefer to read rather than listen, here is a written interview with Sharee:

What are your favorite types of workamping jobs?

Sharee: I enjoy workamping jobs at campgrounds! My favorite position so far was working as an Activities Director at a family campground in Wisconsin.

The campground was pretty big, with over 500 sites and the seasonal campers were amazing to work with!

I’ve also worked for Amazon Camperforce 3 times in Campbellsville, KY.

While this program isn’t right for everyone, it’s a big opportunity to stack up some travel cash right before the winter and then take some time to relax like a true snowbird before gearing up for your summer gig.

Amazon Camperforce is a program where RVers are hired to work inside the Amazon fulfillment centers to help fill holiday orders.

It’s a tough job that requires being on your feet for 10 hours a day, sometimes walking up to 10 miles per day inside a warehouse.

While it doesn’t sound appealing by any means, RVers of all ages flock to their program each and every season!

Who is workamping for? Who is it not for?

Sharee: Workamping is really for anyone! Everyone can do it, at any age in any type of RV (as long as pre-approved by management if staying on-site).

It’s a less than structured subset of the RVing community that leaves most things up to good judgment, creativity and individual preference.

If you’re open to having new experiences and are willing to take outside the box jobs to pay for them, workamping jobs are right for you!

If, however, you’re less flexible and don’t have a positive attitude- you probably won’t enjoy it.

What are some examples of workamping jobs people can do?

1. Camp hosting for American Land & Leisure
2. Various positions with Jellystone Parks
3. Work Camping with KOA
4. Amazon Camperforce
5. The Sugar Beet Harvest
6. US Army Corp of Engineers
7. Working with Xanterra at a National Park
8. Retail Jobs at Yellowstone
9. Sales Positions with AGS Publications
10. Theme Park Jobs at Dollywood or Adventureland

Is it possible to workamp all year? 

Sharee: The short answer is yes. But while workamping jobs can be done year-round, it will require some additional planning.

Jobs are plentiful during the summer camping season, so finding one is pretty easy. You have many options to choose from and although still competitive- you won’t have much trouble finding something you can live with.

During the winter it does get a bit more difficult to secure good workamping jobs in my opinion.

First, you’ll need to start looking right after booking your summer job and may even have to juggle a few things to make the start and end dates line up.

Here are some examples of winter workamping

1. Try house/property sitting.
2. Work at a Christmas Tree lot.
3. Find a Thousand Trails Campground to work at!
4. Become a mobile RV technician and fix your neighbors’ rigs
5. Start a dog walking service in your campground.
6. Work for Amazon Camperforce

You can read more about winter workamping in this blog post!

How much money can people make with workamping jobs?

Sharee: TONS! No- not really. Sorry, but I have to be honest… You won’t get rich workamping, but you will make a decent wage to cover some travel while keeping the expenses low.

The workamping jobs we accepted paid between $10-$15 per hour.

Most of the time the camping was free, and a few times we accepted on-site housing which ranged from a comfortable travel trailer with 5 bunk beds for our kids to a renovated farmhouse with all the bells and whistles!

Realistically you can expect to make anywhere from minimum wage to about $16 per hour with workamping jobs.

Sometime employers will provide a free site, other times you might have to pay a reduced fee or work hours to cover the cost.

I always caution people to not except a FREE site that you have to work for… If you read that correctly, you understand that working for a site is not the same thing as being provided one for free.

Make sure you understand what is being offered before you say yes!

Where are the best places to look for workamping jobs?

Sharee: You can find FREE workamping job postings all over the internet without ever needing to pay a dime!

Employers post their ads on both paid and free job sites to reach the most people, so make sure you don’t get caught paying for a sneak peek!

My favorite sites for job listings are:

• http://www.workampingjobs.com
• https://rverjobexchange.com
• https://www.coolworks.com
• https://www.work-for-rvers-and-campers.com

What are the positives and negatives of workamping?

Sharee: As with anything you’ll have positives and negative, but I firmly believe it’s how you look at each situation that will decide your experience.

Positives would include an easy entry ticket into the RV lifestyle. Workamping jobs provide a stable wage and a cheap place to stay. Move as often or as little as you like and only work the jobs that you want.

Other benefits to workamping would include having a central location to call your home base during a season while you explore the surrounding area through the detailed eyes of a local. I’m a slow traveler, so I love to setup shop and have months to look around!

Negatives of workamping jobs would include being tied to that job for usually several months, possibly a whole season.

Some RVers just won’t want to spend this much time in any one location. Other negatives would be having to work the prime travel season in most cases, as well as having to work during peak times when being a tourist would obviously be much more fun.

Lastly, I would say workamping jobs wages can be a big negative for some people. If you don’t have an alternative source of income, workamping is hard to sustain more than 1-2 people.

Is workamping boring?

Sharee: I can’t really say workamping is boring, as that would really depend on what job you agree to do.

For instance, when I worked at Amazon Camperforce I was literally bored out of my mind.

Every day consisted of reading little numbers on a handheld scanner then walking over to that location to get the item.

I had to find ways to entertain myself! I participated in the hourly work contests, dressed up for themed days and talked to ever camper I passed in the aisles.

On other workamping jobs, like the campground I currently work at, no two days are the same. Each one presents a new challenge, tasks, and exciting moments. I work in the office and just helping get reservations together can sometimes be a big deal.

What is the demographic of workampers? Is it usually retirees?

Sharee: Workampers are known for being retired RVers. It’s been this way since the start and as a result, older campers do make up the majority of people who classify themselves as workampers.

With that said, there is a ton of workampers who are not retired and are nowhere near retirement age. They are young, some have families like mine, and others are working age RVers who just don’t want to settle down just yet.

I’ve seen workampers as young as 18. I’ve also worked with many who were 70+.

Are there any workamping scams people need to watch out for?

Sharee: Definitely! These job sites are posting ads for mostly unverified businesses.

After working behind the scenes for a few years, I can say from experience that ads are merely glanced at for correct grammar and anything that jumps out as alarming, before being posting online and shot out in a daily email.

One of the biggest mistakes RVers make is taking employers at their word.

And while not a scam necessarily, the details of what was first agreed can change greatly by the time of your arrival, if you didn’t get them in writing.

I can’t really target a specific ad, but you hear stories all the time of people who said yes to a job they found online and ended up in a sham of a campground working countless hours each week just to cover their site rent.

You need to do your own homework!

You should be researching these workamping jobs ads and looking at every piece of information you can find about the company. If it looks too good to be true, I’d pass on it. And if you can’t find anything… well I’d pass on that too!

Need more job ideas? Check this out: 40+ ways to make money from an RV or a campervan

What are some of the coolest workamping jobs you’ve heard about?

Sharee: I’ll just put this out there, CoolWorks.com has some pretty cool jobs! And some of them you don’t even need an RV for, you can choose dorm-style housing and get to experience some great National Parks and attractions!

But two really awesome workamping jobs I love to tell people about are Lt. Blender Cocktails and AlaskaX.

Lt. Blender Cocktails is a cocktail mix company that hires not just RVers but travelers in general to demo their products in big box retailers like Walmart, Costco as well as at Trade shows.

I had the pleasure of working with the owner and found out that their company will pay for travel expenses (either RV camping or hotel stay) and on-site training. They pay the fees for the shows or retailer setup and they provide a compact kit to get your table setup and ready for samples!

AlaskaX is just as cool as it sounds. They’re a tour company offering a wide variety of positions for RVers looking to join their team in Skagway, Alaska for the summer.

They offer both Employee housing as well as a private RV park located in town as well with discounted site rents for RVers. Positions range from Adventure Guides & Dog Mushers to Maintenance, Retail and Photographers!

Read more about AlaskaX in this blog post!

Conclusion on finding workamping jobs

I hope you’ve found this interview with Sharee Collier as informative as I did!

As you can see, there are all types of workamping jobs out there, from being a park ranger, to an activities director, to a tour guide, to a campground host.

You won’t make tons of money with workamping jobs, but they can help you pay for campsites and get your start on the road.