Work

by

Why Did I Become a Full-Timer

The question came up on an RVing forum I belong to as to why members of the group became full-timers and how our expectations have changed. Here is an expanded version of my reply:

I decided to become a full-timer because life as I was expected to live it did not work for me. I had tried to have a house and a career and a family and none of that fulfilled me completely. The richer I became materially, the more I felt convinced that something was seriously missing in my life and I finally accepted that the absolute only time that I’m happy is when I’m traveling.

However, I do like to have a ‘home’, so RVing seemed like the natural choice for combining both needs and also allowed me to have my cats with me. Moreover, I wanted to see my country, and eventually more of the US, at my own pace, as a local rather than a tourist.

A year into full-timing, I’ve discovered that I don’t like being on the go every day. I’m very happy to spend three or four months in one location, then spend two to four weeks traveling to another location. I figured this out very early on, actually, so I haven’t done nearly as much exploring in the past year as I would have expected. That said, I know some towns better than I ever expected I would and I would never in a million years have fallen in love with Vancouver had I not spent four months there.

Also, working on the road isn’t easy. Oh, work can be found for the willing just about anywhere, but it’s very hard to generate a stable source of income. Until I do, I will have to spend long periods of time in one place before I can move on to another. For a few months in late 2008 and early 2009 I thought that the blog was going to become a steady source of income, enough to make a dent in my budget, but that well has dried up completely. I’ve made the decision that I can no longer afford to treat the blog as a business and that I need to put my energy elsewhere for the time being. This won’t affect readers as I will continue to post as I always have, but there will be a lot less going on behind the scenes. (update on July 22, 2010: it’s amazing how quickly things can change if you’re persistent!)

Besides that, I think that the biggest expectation I’ve had to let go of is that I will roam freely. This won’t happen for several years. Right now, I need the security of a ‘homebase’ with a good job to return to for a good chunk of the year and to winter some place warmer where I can work. So, that means that I will spend the next few years learning every route between Dawson City and southern BC. But I’m okay with that, at least my home has wheels and I decide when I pull up the stakes.

Becoming a full-timer was without a doubt the only good decision I ever made in my life even if it was planned poorly and it has enabled me to fulfill many other dreams. It is the life I’m meant to lead.

by

Camp Hosting Update

This summer of camp hosting has been absolutely fantastic!

I am very happy in my position that has seen a growth of responsibility. This week, I’m covering for the manager for three days and will have the run of the park, so to speak, for two of those days while the owner is also away. It’s great to be trusted and appreciated. The shifts this week are long, nine hours, but there are so many little things to do that the time goes by very quickly. I have some desk work to do, like bookkeeping and updating the computer system, that gives me a moment to breathe after frantic running around and I also have to coordinate (I refuse to use the word ‘manage’!) the motel housekeeping staff. It’s a full plate, but not overwhelming, and at the end of the day I know that a day’s worth of work was done.

by

Why I Like Working in an RV Park

My manager’s husband asked me today why I so obviously enjoy this type of work. This is what I replied:

I did a diploma with a focus on outdoor recreation and campground management, so working in an RV park is definitely ‘in my field.’ Why did I pick this field? Well:

1) I enjoy the outdoors and camping;

2) I like the social aspect of meeting people from all over;

3) Duties are varied and fast paced, making for days that fly by without being monotonous;

3) The work is both mental and physical, offering a variety of challenges.

Camp hosting is not my favourite way to work in this field, but in this particular location it works. I like to live near work, but not AT work! My first job in this field, I lived about 10 minutes from work and that worked out perfectly. Here, I am at least allowed a life outside of work, so living on site is not a problem.

by

Camp Hosting Tips, Redux

Eight weeks into my disastrous camp hosting experience last fall, I came up with a list of camp hosting tips. Let’s look at them again and see how they apply to my current non-disastrous camp hosting experience.

1) Confirm the details of the arrangement before moving in and sign a written contract

That’s not how things are done in Yukon, so this tip was not applicable to my current situation. How things are done here is that you move in, get comfortable and caught up on your online stuff, have a brief discussion about arrangements, hit the ground running, and then smooth out the arrangement as time goes on. How well does that work? I was supposed to be here for three weeks. Three days into the job, I agreed to stay for three months and to come back next year.

2) Make sure you and the manager agree on what constitutes hours that qualify towards the minimum expected to cover your rent (or whatever you’re bartering for)

This time around, I decided to get hired as a ‘contractor.’ I was given a set daily rate for my rent and an hourly wage for all hours worked. How I decided to do my bookkeeping is that I invoice them every two weeks for the hours worked during those fourteen days minus my daily rent for that fortnight. This way I don’t have to budget for rent. It also makes it very easy to agree to extra hours because I’m going to get paid for them. Here, I work as hard as I did at the park in Oliver but what I get at the end of the week is at least four times as much as I got back there.

3) Get a bit of background on the people you will be working with (how long they’ve worked there, what they do, what their expectations are for temporary staff)

My arrangement is with the manager and if anyone has a problem, they go through her. This was the problem last fall; the manager did not know how to manage staff and she let the camp host with a stronger personality make managerial decisions that weren’t hers to make. A strong manager makes this particular point moot.

4) Don’t allow them to make significant changes to the contract without a new contract being signed

Again, this is not how things are done in the Yukon. One’s word is one’s bond. My staying on for the whole summer changed every single term of the previous arrangement (positively!) and my first pay cheque was all I needed to confirm the new arrangement.

5) Don’t assume that you and the manager speak the same language. Reiterate very instruction that you are told until you’re sure you know exactly what s/he means

This is not an issue here because the manager actually remembers most of the time what she’s told you and believes you if you say that she said something different. Another big difference here is that if I forget to do something or simply don’t do it because I didn’t know I had to do it, I am left a note as a reminder. If I don’t understand the instruction, I ask and it is explained to me and that’s that. I don’t have to listen to a lecture for a half hour about what a useless lazy slob I am and I am never faulted for not knowing something.

6) Be aware of just how much value you are being given for the number of hours you put in. Camp hosting can turn out to not be cost effective

Refer back to point no. 2. I know exactly how much money I am making in my day. It’s a fair wage and I even occasionally get a few dollars in tips for cleaning motel rooms. Moreover, this is a very pleasant work environment and I have a very varied workload. Add to this a town that closes very late and I rarely watch the clock. I was supposed to be done at 4 today, but finished at 5. Woohoo, an extra hour’s pay that will more than cover a drink if I choose to go out later. Another thing that makes working here so nice is that the manager and owner are appreciative and fully aware that, hey, people need lunch breaks, or breaks, period. I did two large days of housekeeping this week and was ‘treated’ to a morning in the office today.

7) Carefully evaluate the proposed schedule to ensure that it will not be damaging to your health

My schedule here is all over the place, but I never have to start early after a late night. There is also plenty of staff to cover the ‘off’ hours so there is no reason for guests to come knocking at my door in the wee hours of the morning, allowing me to have a life separate from the RV park and motel. Most important, however, is that I do not constantly feel belittled and devalued, so my emotional health is much better and I have more energy.

I guess it’s pretty clear that my current camp hosting position is working out just fine. 🙂

by

The Road Ahead

A lot has happened ‘behind the scenes’ in the last few days and the final piece of the puzzle has clicked into place, so I can now write about it.

A little over a year ago, I approached my boss and asked her if I could take a year’s sabbatical to try out full-time RVing. We both suspected from the start that I would not be returning to my old life, but she let me go with her blessing.

Over the year, I’ve frequently mentioned that I could not see myself going back to Ottawa and my old life. At the same time, I could not envision the future beyond the end of August. Coming to the Yukon has changed that and I can now see clearly five years ahead of me.

So, in the last few days, I’ve been going back and forth with my financial planner regarding my choosing a future of my own making spent on the road.

It’s important to understand that we were talking about my giving up lifetime job security, health benefits, and one of the best pension plans in the country, of taking a gamble that the joys of this life would outweigh being less than financially secure. He feels that I am making my choices with my eyes wide open and we’re going to work together to make sure the dream doesn’t turn to nightmare.

So, I’ve quit my job and am in process of severing my ties to ‘back east’ by starting the process of becoming a Yukoner. I will be spending six months of the year up here for residency requirements for reasons that will be explored in a future post. I need a new home base and Dawson City is it. I already have my Dawson City address and this is going to be as ‘home’ as a nomad can have a home.

I’ll be here in Dawson until the end of August and then, if the money’s good, I’ll head up to Inuvik. If not, then there’s next year! I’ll return to Watson Lake for the late fall and then go to Vancouver Island for the winter. Come spring, I’ll come back to Watson Lake, then Dawson. It’s not going to be as nomadic a life as I’ve lived in the past year, but for the time being I can’t afford for it to be. I will be content in going between set contracts and picking up several times a year. There are also a few different roads which lead to Dawson, so I can pick a different route next year.

Eventually, once the debt accumulated over the past year is paid off, I’ll be able to spend my summers up here working my tail off and then use the winter to explore warmer climes.

So, expect a little less traveling with Miranda over the next year or so as a brand new full-time RVer figures out just how she’s going to do this for years. I do have a winter project in mind that will keep interest piqued. 🙂

The best way I can explain my decision to people is that I had a choice between making a living and making a life. I choose life.