"Work" Your Vacation

Did you know you can "work" your vacation to help pay for it? Many camp grounds/state parks/national parks will have camp ground "hosts". The "hosts" work a set amount of hours a day, anywhere from 4-8 at the gate booth in exchange for free camping. Some will let you work 3 days at 8 hours each day, then camp free for a week.

Cruise lines often have people come in and "teach" in exchange for free or greatly reduced cruises. My former husband got a free cruise in exchange for teaching onboard a class in making items from stained glass. Another friend taught an aerobics class 6 times a day in exchange for free passage. and another is an RN who works on a cruise ship 3 weeks a year.

As an EMT, I often work at childrens camps; including church camp, 4H, Scouts, music camp, band camp, equine camp and on float trips. The pay varies, but some camps let my children attend for free, some pay me a straight wage, others pay me and my children attend for half off.

When I was younger I worked/volunteered at the city park department during the summer in exchange for a free family pool and park pass. The nice part was, my older elementry aged children got to go to work with me (for free using the pass) and I could keep an eye on them swimming while I worked. During the winter months, I taught one class a week at the park deparment for a month(usually a craft or sewing class). I had my choice of either getting paid cash OR a free winter pass.

I have also worked in the first aid booth and in ticket booths at state fairs in exchange for free event tickets, free parking, free on site camping, and discounted meals for the entire family. My work shifts were 4 hours each, and then I joined my family for the rest of the day.

Some family owned hotels will hire extra staff during their peak season, and as part of the pay, you get a cabin or hotel room free or at a hugely discounted price.

Another fun thing to do is to be a contractor for an RV company. Most RV's are too large to trailer to dealerships, so they hire drivers to pull them to their dealerships. My aunt and uncle used to do this and went from Indiana factories with them to dealers in FL, TX, California, Missouri. The RV company would then fly them back home. The RV company paid for all the fuel, the rental truck to pull it, and they got to stay in the RV enroute. They got to see a lot of country this way, for free!

Check it out, see what you can come up with!

By mom-from-missouri from NW, MO