Number Of Hours?

[Dog_Folks]

I understand that there are lots of variables involved, but do you have a “cap” on the amount of hours you will donate to receive a FHU site at no charge?

We have had positions with as much as 40 hours per week. Both my wife and I agree that, for us, that is too many hours.

For us the cap is 24-28 hours for a site, total. Not per person.

What is your cap?

[bigwheelsturnin]

we're leaving for our volunteer gig at Suwannee river state park...Nov 1...end of Feb.
we've never done this so we're excited...our hrs each are 20/week.
me cleaning cabins..dh ...maintenance.
i don't think they have wifi ..or other free perks than the site..which they just put in a new camping area for volunteers.
I'm just gonna keep thinking about missing that "polar vortex"...
& do our best... 🙂

[deltamaster]

Oh, as for the plan for the day work camping is no longer viable... I turn my rental apartment in to my own. By then the mortgage will be satisfied and all I will need to cover is taxes. Since there will still be rental income from the other unit on property I will have a nice little income from that to pay the taxes, cover expenses and buy groceries.

I can sell the rig and get a couple grand out of it and I can drive my current pickup until it drives no more... then pay cash for another older one or get some little car just to get around. The house is in the downtown area of a fairly large Midwestern city so most everything I will need is right close at hand and there is an Air Force base and a large VA hospital only a few miles away.

I will likely die broke but I have no kids to leave anything to and there will still be the house for the nieces. After all, you can not take it with you when you leave this earth so it is best to enjoy it while you have it.

[deltamaster]

It works out fairly well for retired military IF you maintain a budget and are not living beyond your means.

When I went through military separation classes they taught us how to get back in to civilian life and seeking civilian employment. They asked each of us what we wanted to do after we separated from the military and when I said I would be a work-camer they looked at me funny. Just so happened a retired first Sargent was work camping and he came and spoke to the group. Then he spoke with me personally and attempted to discourage me as he felt it was a loosing proposition and not sustainable.

I sized the guy up. He was wearing designer clothing, had a neck full of gold and drove one of those expensive Chevy retro-pickups. His rig cost three times the cost of mine and he was in debt with it all so naturally he had a lot of overhead. I quickly discounted his experiences as to how they related to me as everything (except the rig) was paid off. I had two house mortgages but they are rental property so they pay for themselves. I have insurance and Mailbox expenses and vehicle registration expenses and that it all.

My pension is around a grand per month and I have about half that in expenses so I survive on $500.00 per month. Any job I can get or any gratuitous work I can take pays for the travel and cost of living.

I do not buy junk unless I really need it and I take care to take care of what I have and do as much work myself as possible.

Medical is through the VA or Tricare and groceries are not too bad as I do not eat too much. I do not go out a lot and find free things to do whenever I can.

The key is to maintain awareness of your expenses and do whatever you can to keep them down. Imperative to that is learning as much about routine maintenance on your equipment as possible as the greatest cost in repairs and maintenance is Labor fees. Parts are not too terribly expensive for the most part but the labor cost in installing them is murder!

An example is I recently had to replace the flush valve on my toilet. The parts cost $35.00 but the labor to do the work would have been three or four times that much. I took the toilet out, replaced the failed part and replaced the toilet myself for only the cost of the part and the tools I already had for years of use.

Same with the delamination and water intrusion on my rig. It would likely have cost several thousands of dollars to repair but I did it myself for around $500.00 in materials and parts and feel I did as well as any other guy would have AND did BETTER job sealing everything back up than even the manufacturer did when they built the rig.

As long as I can do some sort of work in exchange for a campsite at reasonable hourly rates or find paying jobs as well I can survive and still travel. That is where Amazon is such a good opportunity. The work is strenuous but the compensation is very fair.

Most traditional jobs are minimum wage or a little more without any other benefits but Amazon pays a fair wage PLUS covers full hookup camp site fees on top of that. Sure, it is not for every one but for those of us that can do the work and are willing to do the work it is really nice to have it offered. ALSO, these Amazon jobs are some of the better paid in the work-camping world. Most other places pay less and require more. Sure, it is hard work but most factory type jobs are.

[trailertraveler]

Doug33 wrote:
I am not yet in a position to retire, but the campworking idea may appeal to me at some point. If you are in a financial position to retire, then I can understand not wanting to work once you retire. But if you could offset the cost of your "rent" by working here and there, then that might be a win-win

That is true, just make sure you have a plan for if/when you are not able to even work part time. Campsite and fuel costs can be two of the biggest expenses of RV travel. You also need to consider that leaving the workforce too early may affect Social Security benefits by adding zeros or small amounts into the calculation of average earnings. Withdrawing from IRAs too early can result in tax penalties. If you are not eligible for Medicare or have a company sponsored retiree health plan, you need to consider that as well.

[Doug33]

I am not yet in a position to retire, but the campworking idea may appeal to me at some point. If you are in a financial position to retire, then I can understand not wanting to work once you retire. But if you could offset the cost of your "rent" by working here and there, then that might be a win-win.

[deltamaster]

TexasH wrote:
Our philosophy is that we want to do some interesting volunteer work that will be rewarding to us. We look for opportunities that meet that criteria. I guess that we have some "maximum" hours, but mostly we want a nice site, and the "work" is a separate consideration. We have had places where we worked a little as 20 hours a week total that we liked less than our most recent adventure where we worked a total of 48 hours a week. More important than the hours is the job, how much we enjoy what we are doing, how well we like the management and other volunteers and paid staff.

Full disclosure: We don't full time. We travel about 6 months a year, and spend 3-4 of those months in volunteer sites. So our considerations may be totally different from a full timer.

Light work such as sitting around all day selling firewood or answering questions or selling campsites would be more acceptable to more hours worked. If you are sitting around with your feet up reading the paper or a favorite book and just being available and watching things going on and making rounds every few hours then more hours is acceptable.

Harder work such as cleaning and maintaining and clearing trails and such would equate to less hours in exchange for the site.

[deltamaster]

texasclarks wrote:
Like many have said before it really depends on the location and what is expected.

If it is 24-hours/week of cleaning, mowing, and maintained the park in order to have a free place to park...it better be a nice CG with amenities that are worth my time.

Additionally, I would want to know when I am needed. If for instance it was 3x days @ 4-hours per day and then had the rest of the week off (for a couple - 24 hours) then maybe -- if the park offered enough amenities and was in the right location.

I would not volunteer our time in a location that wouldn't provide enough time to enjoy the area. I have seen many a position advertised for 30-40+ hours a week for a CG that charges $500-600/month and then have a strict schedule that equates to WORKING.

When I retire it is to enjoy the fruits of my labor, not to labor for someone else.

Exactly. Working a full work week JUST for the site equates to working a full work week in the regular world to lie in a trailer and pay the electric and water bill and nothing else. No money for food or clothing or any thing else. That equates to considerably less than minimum wage.

I absolutely understand about the location but if you are WORKING 40hours per week then there is precious little time left to enjoy the location.

I have seen places advertising 40 hours per week cutting trails and cleaning and other hard physical labor in exchange for JUST the FHU camp site. So my question is... Is that REALLY fair trade for labor... hard labor?

[deltamaster]

shenandoahvalley wrote:
I have camphosted for VA State parks for the last four years. They ask for a 30 hour work week which I guess is ok...however, if you aren't careful you start to get a lot of "will you do this, will you help with that" and you can end up putting in a lot of extra hours. I had to learn to say "no"...thirty hours is all you get. So, thirty hours is my cap.

Yep, Been there-done that. Many of these park managers learn very quickly how to gradually take advantage.

For a volunteer job in exchange for a site it is generally acceptable for a TOTAL (Both of a couple) of about 20 hours. The more intense the work then the less the free hours, otherwise you end up devaluing yourself and everyone else around and after you.

[Smooth_Sailn]

I'm in the 20-24 hours per couple per week
group. WSE plus cable, wifi, laundry and propane if you can get it.

[texasclarks]

TCW wrote:
Of more concern to us then the hours per week is the number of weeks/months required. We are not at all interested in spending a month, months or a season in one place. We RV to travel and see this great country. We volunteer for Habitat for Humanity with the RV Care-A-Vanners. It is not unusual to work 32-40 hours a week, but the projects often require a committment of only 1-2 weeks and very rarely more than that. We do not move from project to project and some years may only do 1 or 2.

I like this idea for volunteering.

[Bipeflier]

I'm worth $20/hr at my worst.

If the site is $100/wk I will work 5 hours.

[bluegypsy]

One of my major questions, instead of hours per week, is "how many days on/off"
- For example, at a FL state park a few years ago, we worked a 3-day "on" and 3-day "off" schedule. It was great, our days off were sometimes weekdays (so the restaurants, beaches, etc, were less crowded) and sometimes weekends (so flea markets and farmers markets were open).
I once saw an ad for a county park (think it was in IL or IA or IN, of the "I" states) that was a 7-day "on" and 7-day "off" rota. We would love that kind of schedule.

Working 20 hours, in 2-hour chunks (each) over 5 days a week, really cuts into the recreational time (IMHO). I would much rather work 5 hours (each) over 2 days - still giving the park 20 hours - and then take 5 days off to explore, hike, etc.

So we always ask that question when we apply for a volunteer position

[TCW]

Of more concern to us then the hours per week is the number of weeks/months required. We are not at all interested in spending a month, months or a season in one place. We RV to travel and see this great country. We volunteer for Habitat for Humanity with the RV Care-A-Vanners. It is not unusual to work 32-40 hours a week, but the projects often require a committment of only 1-2 weeks and very rarely more than that. We do not move from project to project and some years may only do 1 or 2.

[eb145]

Interesting topic and thoughtful posts.

I am a year or two from retirement and my dream is to camp host at state parks and national parks and forests with my wife. Maybe 6 to 8 months a year with the rest being at the S&B.

We both enjoy natural beautiful settings for our campsites and we want to explore this country. I like dealing with people and being outdoors and I'd like to get some exercise while working. Camp hosting at locations near where our children have moved to sounds ideal to me.

I would guess that working 20 or 30 hours a week for a free FHU site would be fine for me. I also suspect that I would volunteer more hours than that if I enjoyed the park and the staff.

Ed