The Nonsense of W&J

2024 will be our second year Workamping the Sugar Beet Harvest in Minnesota.  Although we are not experts by any means, we do have some tips that we used last year and we plan to use again.  Don’t get me wrong, working the harvest wears us out.   About the fourth or fifth day in, I could curl up onto the beet pile and just sleep.  I don’t even care if I am buried or not.  But, I had only one really bad day where I cried over everything and then it was done.

Our main concern while working is to get as much sleep as possible.  Sleep is very important to us.  The less sleep you get, the more likely you are to get hurt or hurt someone else.  So, the tips below are ones we will again be using this year to make our harvest easier.

Wear Shoes You Have Already Broken In

Because we hike a lot, we buy new hiking boots every year before we start adventuring in the Spring and Summer.  We have done this for four years.  However, now, instead of saving our old boots as backups, we use them at the Beet Harvest and then throw them away.

The safety ladies at the Beet Harvest recommend leather shoes.  They provide more protection than the cloth hiking boots.  However, we have had no issues with our waterproof Keen hiking boots.  And, by October when we are working the harvest, our boots are well-broken in and very comfortable.

Wear Old or Used Clothing

By the end of the harvest last year, I was wearing red, bell-bottom yoga pants rolled up so I wouldn’t trip on them.  Windell took a picture of me covered in dirt, red pants rolled into my white socks, and my hard hat on.  Then he sent it to people I knew.

No one cares what you look like while working the harvest.  You are going to be dirty and nasty.  If you have to buy clothing, buy old ragged clothing from a yard sale or thrift store.  Don’t spend a lot of money.  This year I saved my orange yoga pants with holes in them.  Again, I will be breaking a lot of fashion rules!

Also, I don’t wear bibs.  While you are working, you have to use a porta potty.  They do keep it pretty clean, but it is still a porta potty.  I don’t want to have to undress too much to use the toilet.  So, rather than wear bibs, I like a sweatshirt or coat and separate pants.

Layers, layers, layers.  You will get cold, warm, and maybe even hot during your working shift.  Don’t be afraid to wear lots of layers as you can always take one off if needed.  And find an old jacket that will keep you warm in rain.  You will be working in the elements and you don’t want to be miserable.

Last year, I actually found a long, waterproof coat to my ankles that had a hood.  Everyone jokingly called it my bathrobe.  Although we threw away most of our clothing, it was so comfortable that I kept it for this harvest.

We save our old clothing throughout the year as they rip or no longer fit.  Even if we have to wear a belt to keep our pants from falling down, we keep them.  Then, after wearing the same clothing for a few days while working the harvest, we simply throw them away.  We don’t wash them.

We don’t do laundry while we are working.  At our age, sleep is much too important and the clothes are not worth it.  So, shop for cheap, separate tops and bottoms, lots of layers, and very old clothing that you don’t want to save.

Buy Hand Warmers

There is nothing better than having hand warmers in your gloves and shoes on a cold day.  Purchase more than you think you will need.  I was so thankful last year that we had stocked up on these small bits of warm and fuzzy.  We had so many that if I wanted to put one in the lining of my hard hat on a really cold day, I did.

Bring lots of hand warmers and use them.  I promise you will appreciate that little bit of comfort.  Because Windell was in a heated forklift while I was standing in the elements, he didn’t need the handwarmers.  Not that I’m a little jealous.

Food Preparation

I cook homemade soups in my electric pressure cooker.  I love homemade soups because I can add all the spices and veggies that I want.  Before we start working the harvest, I cook my soups, divide them into portions, refrigerate some, and freeze the rest.  I love my beef and veggie soup and my cabbage soup with beef.  Yum, yum!

Don’t plan on cooking or shopping while you are working.  Have enough food already prepared for two weeks.  Windell prefers canned food to my homemade soups.  So, we also load up our pantry with canned beef stew, ravioli, etc. that is easy to heat up.

Having warm food on cold days will improve your mood tremendously while you are working.  We both have a Stanley Soup Thermos that we put our hot food in for lunch and supper, and it stays warm for us.  Again, it is just that little bit of warm and fuzzy that will make a big difference in your day.

While you are working, don’t forget your drinks.   We have a seven-gallon jug in the back of the truck that we fill with water.  I then easily fill my water bottle all day.  Of course, Windell always has his sweet tea.  Sometimes, just for a little extra coziness, I will heat up some hot tea before my shift and stick that in a thermos also.

Workamping the Sugar Beet Harvest is long hours outside in the elements for a few weeks.  The job itself is not difficult.  But, you do get tired and it can really dampen your mood, if you let it.  Just a few preparations will make you feel a little better and may help you get through the harvest.

You will get tired and have bad days.  Having a great team that you can rely on and they can rely on you will make this workamping job smoother for everyone.  So, plan some creature comforts, forget domestic chores for a little while, and just focus on the job.  Good luck and be safe!

The Sugar Beet Harvest is an amazing opportunity to earn quite a bit of money in just a few weeks.  You can find out more information on Workamping the Sugar Beet Harvest at https://www.theunbeetableexperience.com/.

Retiring Early – On a Budget

Our first two years of RVing Full-Time, we did not know anything about workamping.  We had both retired early from our jobs to take a break and spend some time together.  We created a tight budget for a lifestyle we thought we could afford.  Our budget did not include much expense for adventuring or campgrounds.

Our initial plan was to stay on Thousand Trails Campgrounds with our membership and see sights around these campgrounds.  We expected to stay on our tight budget by doing this.  But, of course, after the first six months, we wanted more!  More adventures, more toys, more fun.  With our tight budget, our adventuring was more limited than we wanted.

The second year was also a little scary for us.  The stock market was falling and we were traveling in the Northwest.  We experienced higher diesel prices for the truck, higher cost of food, and, of course, we had to do some cool boat rides in this area.  So, after that second year, we decided we needed to work.  For our first workamping experience, we stayed for seven months with a relative and worked as Professional Housekeepers over a winter.  We learned a lot on our first Workamping Job that we could apply to future positions.

Our Workamping Experiences

Working for family – Our First Workamping Experience

Our first boss was amazing.  She trained us well and then let us run amuck.  You might think that cleaning toilets does not sound like a good job.  But there are many positives to professional cleaning.  As mere employees, the boss handled all communications wih the clients.  We did attend meetings, work outside in the elements, or work full-time.

Our first workamping gig was a great experience and we learned a lot.  We did the best job we could and we left on excellent terms.  So, we added the experience and our reference to our Workamping resume on Workamper News.

The Beet Harvest – Our Second Workamping Job

Our second workamping gig was the Beet Harvest.  This workamping experience was a little more intense simply because of the long hours.  However, the job is pretty simple and it only lasts a couple of weeks.  We planned ahead by preparing and freezing meals so we would not have to cook while working the Beet Harvest.  We also kept old clothes that we no longer wore so we would not have to do laundry while working twelve hour shifts.  When the beet harvest was finished, we simply threw them away when we were done.  It sounds like waste.  But, after all the beet dirt, you do not want to wear those clothes again.  After every shift, Jessica would dump the beet dirt out of her sports bra before walking into the travel trailer.

The Beet Harvest was awesome for two reasons.  Everyone knows you make a lot of money in just a couple of weeks.  It really helps with the adventuring budgeting.  However, we also received an extra benefit at the beet harvest.  We worked on a fabulous team and met some amazing people. Because of our great experience, we signed up to work it again this year.  But now we will be on nights.  Jessica is not sure how well she will handle nights, and how much coffee she will require.  Windell has already promised to keep reminding her of next year’s planned adventures.  Hopefully, we will also be on the same awesome team as before.

Working at a Florida Resort

The same year we first worked the Beet Harvest, we signed up for Housekeeping in a beautiful resort in Florida for the winter.  We really did not know at first what to expect.  We had never worked at a campground/resort before, although, most of the other Workampers had lots of experience at campgrounds.  They would work half the year in Florida for the winter and the other half at a campground/resort up North.  We felt a little out of place with our limited experience.  But as we tell ourselves with every Workamper job, “if it doesn’t work out, we will simply leave.”

But it did work out!  The resort is gorgeous.  We only worked three full days a week.  That left us four days a week for adventuring and RV maintenance.  We were still Housekeeping, so we could keep to ourselves and simply do our job.  Our supervisor was laid back and had a great attitude.  Again, we were trained and then allowed to run amuck.  We loved the cleanliness of the resort and the great location for adventuring.  And, Jessica learned how to drive a golf cart!

Some of the owners at the resort were not sure about us either.  And we can understand why.  Sometimes the workampers and the employer work out great, as has been our experience with all our gigs.  However, we have also heard stories about workers and employers not being a good fit.  Also, we know we are not perfect workampers.  But we will try to remember to clean the vacuum filter next time before complaining about it!

After a few months of cleaning and doing our best, people at the resort became more friendly toward us.  We tried to learn names, and they already knew ours.  More “hellos” came our way, and we even added new subscribers.   When we started working the parties at the end of the year, we met even more awesome people.  We worked as food servers and had a chance to dance with the owners at the last parties for the season.  What a blast!

Our Future Workamping

Workamping has been an amazing experience for us.  We have loved learning new skills and meeting new people.  Sometimes there has been a little drama.  Jessica does get a little cranky when she is tired or not out adventuring enough.  Sometimes others try to throw drama on you.  But, overall, we would definitely recommend workamping to anyone wanting to earn a some extra cash flow.

Although we have met some amazing people, our favorite part of workamping has been the huge increase in our budget.  We love booking bigger adventures and buying more toys.  Now we are even looking at traveling more overseas in the upcoming years.  The increase in our wages and our budget have expanded our adventuring.

We have not explored all the opportunities of workamping.  There are many more skills to learn.  Jessica would like to workamp on a farm.  Although Windell says no.  These are temporary positions in different places.  You can apply for whatever position you want wherever you want to be.  If it does not work out, your career is not affected.  You do not get demoted or put on corrective action.  If you don’t want to, you do not have to work the same job for twenty years and hope you can retire while still physically healthy.  You can explore and adventure while you work.

So, if you are traveling full-time and you need some money, look into some Workamping opportunities.  It is a lot of fun.  We already plan to continue workamping for many more years to have bigger and more exciting adventures.

Our RV Memberships

We have been full-time RVing for over four years now.  Over that period, we have joined a few RV Memberships for campgrounds and workamping.  The only memberships we use for campgrounds are Thousand Trails , the Trails Collection with Thousand Trails, RPI, and Passport America .  We also joined Workamper News  for fun workamping jobs.

Thousand Trails

The first membership we purchased was a used Thousand Trails Elite membership from Campground Membership Outlet .  We purchased this membership before we had even sold our house.  Our used Elite membership cost less than $5000.  We can book four months in advance for our Thousand Trails campgrounds, and we can stay up to three weeks.  We pay approximately $1000 in membership dues every year for our Elite membership and our second membership – the Trails Collection.  The Trails Collection, or Encore campgrounds, are additional campgrounds with Thousand Trails sites.  These may cost $20 per night, but most are also free after the annual membership.  We can book these two months in advance and stay for up to two weeks.  There are two Encore sites in the Florida Keys!

When we purchased our Thousand Trails membership, we had the chance to also purchase an RPI annual membership.  This membership costs less than $200 per year.  There are many RPI campgrounds in areas that do not have Thousand Trails.  Most of the campsites in RPI cost us $10 per night.  We used these campgrounds a lot the first year when we were traveling between Thousand Trails campgrounds.

Passport America

However, even with these two memberships, sometimes we still do not have cheap campgrounds in some areas.  This is where our Passport America membership comes into play.    We used this membership for the first time at Glacier National Park.  Our campground was six miles from the West Glacier entrance.  It was amazing.  So, during Christmas a couple of years ago, when Passport America ran a sale for a lifetime membership for under $300, we purchased it.  This membership helped us out a lot in Michigan and Wisconsin, where we did not have many Thousand Trail campgrounds.  We have already used it this year also.  Right in the middle of our planned trip, we decided to change our trip and go north for cooler weather.  We landed a campground close to our area for half the price with Passport America.

The Passport America membership can be a little more confusing because the campgrounds within this program are still individually owned.  Most of the time you get half off the nightly rate.  However, depending on the campground, there may be limitations.  For example, some do not give discounts on weekends.  So, you do have read the details on the campground.  We really like to call the campground personally and talk to someone there.

Workamper News

The only other membership we have purchased after four years of traveling is Workamper News.  We like learning new hobbies and we like buying toys for our hobbies.  But we retired early and must watch our spending.  So, after two couples we met while traveling recommended Workamper News.com to us for workamping jobs, we signed up to try it.  Again, around Christmas, Workamper News offered us a discounted membership term, so we jumped on it.  We have found both of our RVing jobs on Workamper News.  One was the Beet Harvest in Minnesota that we worked a couple of weeks.  However, our favorite is houskeeping in Florida at a beautiful resort for five months over the winter.   We had a blast kayaking and snorkeling on our days off!  To us, the Workamper News membership is an opportunity to overwinter without moving, make new friends, learn new skills, and pay for our toys.  We have had a great time at both of our workamping jobs and are glad we tried them.

We love our memberships.  All of them have helped us save money on our RVing Adventuring and maintain our budget.  We plan on continuing to use these for the rest of our RVing life.