Act One, Scene One

Carol: Hi, I’m a new Workamper. I don’t mean just new here at La Gordita RV Park, but new to working while living in our camper. Steve Anderson—that’s the President of Workamper News (which is how I found out about this position) told me to try to get a job at a larger campground this first time out. That’s why we are at La Gordita!! Well, he didn’t actually TALK to me….but it seems like I know him very well…that is, my husband and I followed his instructions as much as we could before we hit the road. So, I was wondering, have you been here before?

Alice: Yes, well actually, it’s our second time here, but we’ve been Workamping for about six years now. You are going to love the lifestyle! HaHa…it definitely is a good thing you listened to Steve. We kind of rushed into it all and we can sure tell you…we’ve learned an awful lot the hard way! I think there are nearly twenty other Workamping couples here and most of them are experienced, so you’ll have plenty of others to show you the ropes. So you said you are a Workamper News member? What has been your experience so far?

Carol: Well, Bob - that’s my husband – and I got the bug about 2 1/2 years ago from a friend of ours. Never gave it serious thought until Bob was forced to retire early. We weren’t quite prepared for that, but, we started looking into Workamping as Dreamers, then activated as WorkamperPlus members about eight months ago. Not a whole lot of time to plan ahead, but, we had already experienced living in an RV. Bob inherited this Winnebago from his Dad a couple years ago and since he was with SKT Corp. for thirty years, we have taken several long vacations in it and got hooked while traveling through the Southeast. But we wanted to see more of the country!

Alice: It’s a nice rig, but I notice it’s got a few years on it. Have you taken any of Terry Cooper’s RV maintenance courses? I highly recommend it. Believe me, you will be glad you did. Nothing like everything being hunky-dorry for a month or so, and then you are out like we are, one hour from the nearest RV service center, and your RV breaks down. I’m happy to say that after some crazy situations, Ted took the course and is able to handle so many of the maintenance issues now. After the first couple years of Workamping, we started taking the advice of Workamper News, and it has been much smoother sailing…or should I say “driving?” Ted sure has changed his tune. Carol: Sigh…I tried to get Bob to take the course, but he said he’s never been an auto repairman and isn’t going to start now with the RV. I hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us! However, we did take the Workamper Marketing 101 course which sure put us at ease; we wouldn’t have given a thought about so many things, and we developed a real action plan from it. Plus, we had no idea how to get a job at a campground…never heard of seasons or knew that some jobs are strictly volunteer. I certainly never was very good at selling myself anyway! Workamper News sure made it easier.