The Labor Day weekend is a good time to think about 'work'. Lately I have felt a desire for a project of some kind. Don't most people need a project to be happy?
Channel-surfing-with-gasoline is not my idea of a "project." Nor is looking at pretty scenery.
Laugh if you will, but I am going to look into applying for campground host jobs for next year. Perhaps it will help to apply in person this year, while I am still in the area.
Many, if not most, retirees give some thought to volunteer work. I did too. Perhaps I gave up too quickly. Most of the volunteer jobs, that I know of, are rather petty tasks that should be done by a teenager or a minimum wage employee, if the organization in question could actually afford a minimum wage employee.
Worse yet, there is some (paid) officious 'volunteer coordinator' who sits in her cubicle and dreams up rigid and arbitrary schedules for the volunteers, complete with pages and pages of guidelines, application forms, waivers to sign, safety regulations, etc. It's one thing to be humble about the actual work involved in an un-serious or volunteer job. But groveling to bureaucracy is a different thing. My immediate and emotional response is, "I am not going to beg for this!"
Like most retirees, I would be happy to do a low-paying or non-paying job if it was in some way meaningful, and didn't involve obtrusive time commitments. So I say, anyway. In fact, plugging myself back into any kind of bureaucratic system will probably revive certain unpleasant ideas: that the system is wasteful, arbitrary, or futile; and that its 'product' is useless. These are not the thoughts that make a fellow useful to an organization or a joy to work with.
Even jobs that should be fun, can turn un-fun once the novelty wears off. For instance, I was a paid bicycle tour leader my first year as an RVer. Sounds like a paid vacation, doesn't it? It's not quite that simple.
In truth I suspect that putting myself back in the swim of things will quickly refresh my memory about why I wanted to separate myself from the human race in the first place, many years ago.
But have I overlooked something? What about buying some rural land? That would be very satisfying and meaningful work. It would also be a high-overhead lifestyle. Imagine the open-ended, expensive trips to Tractor Supply and Home Depot! On the other hand, land could be a better investment than letting the Federal Reserve rot my life's-savings away.
Some RVers are much more involved with their motor vehicle than I am. They never lack a project! But I have never believed that it was possible to take the do-it-yourself approach when you are on the road. There are people out there who have proved me wrong. They deserve to be admired.
Channel-surfing-with-gasoline is not my idea of a "project." Nor is looking at pretty scenery.
Laugh if you will, but I am going to look into applying for campground host jobs for next year. Perhaps it will help to apply in person this year, while I am still in the area.
Many, if not most, retirees give some thought to volunteer work. I did too. Perhaps I gave up too quickly. Most of the volunteer jobs, that I know of, are rather petty tasks that should be done by a teenager or a minimum wage employee, if the organization in question could actually afford a minimum wage employee.
Worse yet, there is some (paid) officious 'volunteer coordinator' who sits in her cubicle and dreams up rigid and arbitrary schedules for the volunteers, complete with pages and pages of guidelines, application forms, waivers to sign, safety regulations, etc. It's one thing to be humble about the actual work involved in an un-serious or volunteer job. But groveling to bureaucracy is a different thing. My immediate and emotional response is, "I am not going to beg for this!"
Like most retirees, I would be happy to do a low-paying or non-paying job if it was in some way meaningful, and didn't involve obtrusive time commitments. So I say, anyway. In fact, plugging myself back into any kind of bureaucratic system will probably revive certain unpleasant ideas: that the system is wasteful, arbitrary, or futile; and that its 'product' is useless. These are not the thoughts that make a fellow useful to an organization or a joy to work with.
Even jobs that should be fun, can turn un-fun once the novelty wears off. For instance, I was a paid bicycle tour leader my first year as an RVer. Sounds like a paid vacation, doesn't it? It's not quite that simple.
In truth I suspect that putting myself back in the swim of things will quickly refresh my memory about why I wanted to separate myself from the human race in the first place, many years ago.
But have I overlooked something? What about buying some rural land? That would be very satisfying and meaningful work. It would also be a high-overhead lifestyle. Imagine the open-ended, expensive trips to Tractor Supply and Home Depot! On the other hand, land could be a better investment than letting the Federal Reserve rot my life's-savings away.
Some RVers are much more involved with their motor vehicle than I am. They never lack a project! But I have never believed that it was possible to take the do-it-yourself approach when you are on the road. There are people out there who have proved me wrong. They deserve to be admired.
Comments
Hope you find something. It will be interesting to read about your insights and experiences.
Chris
Chris
Why are you putting yourself through something that you see as destined to fail?
Based on your interests, perhaps volunteer work at a library or museum might be more fulfilling.
The nice thing about volunteering vs a "job" is that if things don't work out, you just move on. No specific time commitment.
At any rate, work is good.
Voltaire said
Work keeps at bay three great evils; boredom, vice and need.
Funny that you should mention it at the same time I am reading "Martin Eden" go through the same thing.
I wonder if there is such a publication? Outdoor Life?
Of course RV travels are so mild that they can barely fool anyone into calling them "adventure". (Only timid bourgeois RVers themselves believe it, and they would rather read about pretty sunsets, etc.)
I don't think you have convinced yourself that you will not enjoy your job but I think you will have a hard time finding that location that you will like.
The library or museum idea I think would be a better 'fit'.
Or, if it is just a project that you need with limited people interaction then perhaps volunteer as a Distributed Proofreader for the Gutenberg Project. The people interaction required of a camp host keeps that OFF my list for sure - too many 'folks' I don't want to interact with.
I actually looked into volunteering for Gutenberg.org as a proofreader, but was turned off by all the rules and regulations.
I was just at a small campground where I wouldn't mind interacting with the campers. They were just hikers and mountain bikers. The trick is to stay away from the weekend warrior/motor-crazed yahoo crowd.
Ed