Workamping for KOA?

[DCMac]

Any current or past KOA workampers out there? Looking for comments, thoughts, criticisms, etc, both on being a KOA workamper and about working in general.
Will be retiring soon and think a travel & workamping life would be enjoyable for a while. Beginning research on the lifestyle, just found out that the KOA organization has its own pay-to-be-a-member workamping branch.

[Jim_HiTek]

Never workamped for KOA but did many years at private campgrounds. It's fun, and a great way to save money.

BUT, you have to protect yourself against unscrupulous park owners. And I would imagine you'll find that at KOA's too. Many will advertise a free space and a salary but when you get there and all moved in, with little recourse but to stay there, suddenly, they need you to do the bathrooms, and the pay will come at the end of your stay there, not monthly like you thought, and when the period is up, Oh, you have to pay for your electric, didn't you know that?

That doesn't happen every time, but you need to be ready for it, by getting specifics in writing.

I really like setting up camp wide Wifi systems...but it was always hard to get owners to part with money to pay for hardware. Make sure they prepay for stuff you decide they need, whatever it is. Even a few rolls of TP

So I got to where I specifically ask questions that if they answered in writing, I'd have recourse and evidence. If someone wanted me specifically for a certain skill I had, I'd ask for some compensation for that over and above the other compensation.

Mostly though, I'd work just for a free space, and only a few hours work per day. And no bathroom work. That's better left to someone in the local area to do, not transient camp hosts.

I will say that government parks were always the most straight forward about your duties and responsibilities (and the most honest) which made them easy to work for and you knew before you got there how much you'd have to do. Sometimes too much, for little reward. But the views! Worth the hassle usually.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it for 8 years, until my SS kicked in. Camp hosting and workamping allowed me to stretch out my limited funds while giving me the opportunity to travel all over...even up to Alaska and back. Oh, and I volunteered at Lake Tahoe several times. Easy shop work, carpentry, fence repair, golf cart repairs, etc., etc. and got plenty of off time to explore.

Now that I have SS I don't do anything but maybe install wifi improvements...and it's still a struggle to get paid.

[Morich]

We did the workamping deal for a few years but over time it begin to show strain as more and more folks got into doing it. We found the government places, state and national were most often better for what we wanted as they are not a "for profit" operation. It gets down to the basics of owners wanting to squeeze more out of less (free enterprise?) and one of the more obvious ways is to squeeze those who have less value or less option. So if you need the work really, really bad, you are more likely to get squeezed harder!
We were finding the good jobs harder and harder and more park employees began to look at volunteers as competition, so we quit the whole deal and settled down to taking care of grandkids. The pay is not all that great but the benefits are worth lots more!
I would suggest lots of thoughts and starting out at some state/national parks to test the water before jumping into the money end of things where the sharks live.

[Raymez]

We have workamped for a couple of KOA's and loved both of them. Most pay a wage or salary and then have a reduced rate for site.

[CharlesMoore]

Everyone wants free wifi, and that includes park owners, so I do not order anything without their credit card. I have installed hundreds of sites, including standalone solar, for local, private and state governments and they all gulp at the price but end up paying the big price tag because they really have to have it. However, the new card in the game is hotspots and ATT, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile. Think no more local wifi. Go with Visible Verizon or the other more expensive options. Your smartphone is really powerful.

[PennBruce]

I've been working for KOA's since 2005. It does cost you $35/year. However, once you start working you do get value in return for your annual fee. When you are moving from one KOA to another KOA, corporate will provide you with vouchers for KOA's along your route.

Most KOA's are franchised. About 10% are corporate parks. Corporate parks are fairly homogenous.

The franchise parks reflect the individualization of the owners. Some of these parks you will want to avoid. A KOA that is continuously posting jobs on workatkoa.com is usually a park you will want to avoid.

You first KOA assignment will be that hardest to land. You will not have a track record at another KOA for your prospective KOA to verify. You may have to look for that first assignment at a KOA located in a less then desirable location. However, if you possess a skill that a campground needs then you will have no problem.

Bruce

Originally Posted by DCMac

Any current or past KOA workampers out there? .....