Thinking about full time RVing

PhoenixCougar23

New Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2025
Posts
4
Location
Iowa
Hello! My wife and I are thinking/considering full time RVing, it sounds like a lot of fun and currently have been living in our Cougar Sport 2700BH for the past month. It’s been fun. What do some of you do for work while camping? We’ll need to do that since we’re not able to retire anytime soon due to age! Any advice would be wonderful! Thank you!
 
Well, full timing is something to consider. It gets more complicated if there are kids and pets in the mix. My wife (now long retired) once worked in administration and still gets a bunch of job placement ads through various websites who specialize in this sort of thing. Many of the jobs are "work from home" so that would be one avenue. A good/stable internet connection is needed. I have a friend I met at a campground while on one of our weekend excursions that is an RV tech. He has supplies with him and skills to fix RV issues; living in a campground will bring in business for sure and then he moves to another on a sort of rotation. That sort of thing might require an RV technician school or similar. There are a lot of folks who full time so I suspect you will get better options. One thing I would do since you live in Iowa is migrate somewhere where the climate is more moderate. Good luck.
 
Well, full timing is something to consider. It gets more complicated if there are kids and pets in the mix. My wife (now long retired) once worked in administration and still gets a bunch of job placement ads through various websites who specialize in this sort of thing. Many of the jobs are "work from home" so that would be one avenue. A good/stable internet connection is needed. I have a friend I met at a campground while on one of our weekend excursions that is an RV tech. He has supplies with him and skills to fix RV issues; living in a campground will bring in business for sure and then he moves to another on a sort of rotation. That sort of thing might require an RV technician school or similar. There are a lot of folks who full time so I suspect you will get better options. One thing I would do since you live in Iowa is migrate somewhere where the climate is more moderate. Good luck.
Yes, when we decide we will definitely be spending winters down south somewhere and travel! That would be our plan for sure! Thank you!
 
Hello! My wife and I are thinking/considering full time RVing, it sounds like a lot of fun and currently have been living in our Cougar Sport 2700BH for the past month. It’s been fun. What do some of you do for work while camping? We’ll need to do that since we’re not able to retire anytime soon due to age! Any advice would be wonderful! Thank you!
This is a very vague question.
What are able to do physically, do you have any physical limitations if your thinking about a "work camp" position.
What are your skill sets, It's of no value to you if I sell insurance on the phone and you= not into sales.
What do you want to do? What gives you pleasure/job satisfaction)? The old saying If you are doing what you love you'll never work a day in your life is true.
What are willing to do? Are you willing to clean toilets or work in an office, or climb trees or???

Sharing some backround information with experience and interests would help folks relate in a meaningful way. We've stayed at several larger RV "resorts" that hire camp workers. They typically get a free site (usually NOT a premium site) and a stipend. Many that we have talked with are a pair of spouses that both work at the cg. Often one might do the painting or cermacis, or yoga class while their partner works a maintenance position.

FWIW if your considering doing the work camper gig it's unlikely you'll find something immediately. Many retired folks plan at least a year in advance and set up their positions following the seasons, moving south with the seasons.
 
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This is a very vague question.
What are able to do physically, do you have any physical limitations if your thinking about a "work camp" position.
What are your skill sets, It's of no value to you if I sell insurance on the phone and you= not into sales.
What do you want to do? What gives you pleasure/job satisfaction)? The old saying If you are doing what you love you'll never work a day in your life is true.
What are willing to do? Are you willing to clean toilets or work in an office, or climb trees or???

Sharing some backround information with experience and interests would help folks relate in a meaningful way. We've stayed at several larger RV "resorts" that hire camp workers. They typically get a free site (usually NOT a premium site) and a stipend. Many that we have talked with are a pair of spouses that both work at the cg. Often one might do the painting or cermacis, or yoga class while their partner works a maintenance position.

FWIW if your considering doing the work camper gig it's unlikely you'll find something immediately. Many retired folks plan at least a year in advance and set up their positions following the seasons, moving south with the seasons.
I do construction/remodeling for a living. Not saying I can do anything, but I am able to do whatever I need to. I don’t want to put a limit on my abilities. My wife is a teacher. There would need to be a lot more thinking and consideration. It’s in the talking stages right now, we won’t jump right into for at least two years. We need to get the house fixed up and sold by then also.
 
If you're in construction, you should be able to find a position on some contractor's work crew. As you probably know, most states require a contractor's license and bonding before any job requiring a permit can be done. So.....

As for your DW, if she is a teacher, she might consider working for one of the online universities as a part time professor. My DW did that for 10 years after her retirement from the "C suite". She found it a great way to occupy some of her time (to keep her from getting too bored) and it paid fairly well with not a lot of hours invested. She lectured 2 nights a week for about an hour and then spent another hour or so helping students with a question and answer session and most of the "grading" was done by the computer, not by "reading and correcting student papers".... She said it was a rewarding way to give back to the profession and still make a little for her time. To do that, she'll need a reliable means to be online. We used a MiFi from Verizon and never had any issues with internet connections.
 
I am not "technically" not a "full timer" in the fact I still own my stick-n-brick house and can return to it at any moment if I want to. But, with that said, my wife and I are away from "home" 8-10 months a year, close enough to be full timers. Although, when "home", we never sleep in the house.

One thing you really, really need to have in order if you are wanting to go full timing, or even long-timimg, is to be financially secure in one way or another BEFORE hitting the road.

Unless you have some unusual skills or some truly unique educational experiences, money and a steady source of income is your single most important concern. Have that figured out BEFORE hitting the road and the rest is easy-peasy. (well, there are challenges, but money comes first!)

My wife and I both had jobs that enabled us to work-from-home. We were both in Information Technology, software development for different financial institutions. Before Covid hit, we were both working from home, but I was required to return to the office a couple days a week.

When Covid hit, everyone was "out the door". Now, prior to that, we'd been taking extended week-end outings and on those days where I could work from home, my wife and I were both "connected" to work at a campground somewhere.

When Covid hit and we were not permitted to return to the building, we hit the road for an entire year working from the camper. It was fantastic. No one knew where we were, no one needed to know, as long as we were connected every day to work and doing our jobs. It was by far, the most exciting year of our lives.

When Covid was winding down, I decided to retire. My wife is still working full time (remote) from the camper. I'm now drawing Social Security, and we have not touched saving at all.
A steady stream of financial security is what will make, or break your experience. It will lift you up, or it will crush you like a fly under a fly swatter. So, first and foremost .... where's the steady stream of money coming from .... THAT has to be worked out first. After that, everything else is really .... well ... somewhat trivial.

Edit: Consider campground hosting as a way to camp free. In exchange for a few hours of work, you can get a free camp site. (this is mostly state and national parks). A lot of private campgrounds have a payment system of some time, in exchange for XX number of hours a week. Some pay a small salary and a free campsite to be camp hosts, others pay better, some provide only a campsite. It's a good opportunity, but it still boils down to ... how much money do you need to succeed.

Work camping is another alternative. Look up "Work Camping" on the internet and you'll get hundreds of things to consider.

But, if you have a specialized skills, like traveling nurse, construction, or auto mechanics, (or something else), you can probably land a new position somewhere. But, every opportunity will take work to find it. Sometimes off-the-wall opportunities happen... like helping on a horse farm or stables, or seasonal work picking tomatoes. The sky is the limit.

But, no matter what you choose, your income is the most challenging item you need to overcome.
 
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