When people hear that someone is a full-time RVer, there is one main question that immediately pops into their heads. “What are the ways to make a living while enjoying a full-time RV Lifestyle?” “How can you LIVE being a full-time RVer? You’re not making money traveling the country in your RV are you?”
The simple answer is yes. Yes, people do make a living while being a full-time RVer. It’s relatively easy to become a nomad. Living life the way you want to and still working. I reached out to several seasoned RVers and here are things they said they’ve done to bring in income while traveling in their travel campers:
Tony said that he lives in his travel trailer full-time with his pup. He does survey work for gas and oil company’s. So it works for him and much cheaper than staying in motel/hotels.
James said that he is an independent Insurance Adjuster. After five months living on Long Island working after Super Storm Sandy and paying $220.00 per day for a “dive” motel he went full-time RV living.
Carl says that he now lives full-time on the road as a construction superintendent. He travels all over the southeast has a 35′ Travel Trailer (TT). Much cheaper than a hotel and he doesn’t have to deal with the hassle of getting a new apartment every time he moves on to the next location. Best part is that he can just hook up and go. No worries on preparing an apartment or home for an extended leave.
Cristy maintains her full-time RV lifestyle by being a Travel Nurse. She says there are many travel nurses around the country. This is good to know!
Kelly is currently living off of rental income from her home. She knows that she’s not able to keep that up, but has in the past worked as a freelance writer and other online work that allowed her to work from the road. (Digital Nomad) Kelly blogs at RvChickadee.com. She is also currently building a new review site Best Damn Reviews.
Another RVer (I didn’t have permission to use their name) told me that their husband and wife team are currently looking into becoming oil/gas field gate keepers. I had no idea what that was but found a great description on the Field Gate Keepers here.
Another James gave me A LOT of great ideas of how full-time RVers pull in income:
I’d start with a nest egg and then take on any odd jobs I could find along the way. You’d be surprised how many odd jobs you can get inside a RV park. Brake jobs, tire changes, fixing leaks, troubleshooting electrical problems. Outside the park you can cut weeds, mow lawns, tree removal, do car repairs, residential repairs, etc. A friend in Utah built a shed for someone in a mobile home park. While building that shed, he landed 3 more customers who wanted a shed built. Before it was over, he ended up building sheds for nearly the entire trailer park and averaging $1200 a week profit. But it was a one horse rodeo. The following year he was back to landscaping and lawn maintenance. You just have to find a need and fill it. If there’s no work to be had, time to move on to another location.
Another friend got a job as a mechanic at a truck garage in SC. At first he was sleeping in the garage with no running water, using a porta-jon outside. But he soon bought a used 5th wheel on payments from the owner, connected to the garage’s electricity and had a really nice setup except for having to haul water to fill the on-board water tank. But inside, he had hot/cold running water, free electricity and no rent, plus he was getting paid to work there. When the black water tank filled, he simply dumped it into the porta-john. The gray water tank was dumped right into the grass at night to help with the extreme drought in the area. You couldn’t ask for a better setup, $500 a week, no bills except food and propane.
These days, it really is easy to work from anywhere. As you’ve read above, you can get traveling jobs and live in your RV. It’s cheaper and, I would think, more comfortable living with YOUR things, than staying in a hotel. Wi-fi connections allow you to do online work as well. If you choose to boondock, the RV lifestyle just became cheaper because you don’t have to pay the RV Park fees. But, you will have to move every two weeks when staying at a National Park. I believe the guideline is, you have to move at least 25 miles away from where you were staying for a few days before coming back to that area. You can read more with my other post, Boondocking ~ How to find your Free RV Campsite. Boondocking as well, you will need Solar Panels that are sufficient to run everything you need to work. Unless you don’t mind going through propane with your generator!
Here are a few other jobs you can do while you’re traveling:
- Freelance Writing
- Freelance Editing/Proofreading
- Photographer
- Online Work
- Your own writing – (Online publication about the nomad life, or publishing your own book)
- Virtual Assistant
If you’re a full-time RVer, what jobs have you done? Did you find it easy to work from the road?
I didn’t realize there were so many different ways to make a living while RVing. It’s nice hearing from all the different people who live in RV’s and also work. I always associate retirement with people who live in RVs full time.
I am a nurse, and I know many travel nurses who do this! It’s so much easier than packing up an apartment or a house every 3-6 months!
I didn’t realize that people actually lived this kind of lifestyle. It’s perfect for people who like freedom to roam and travel. Great ways to make money while doing it, too.
My parents had a really nice RV for a while but then they decided to settle in Florida. I would love to have even just a small camper for weekend trips.
The freedom is certainly enticing. That’s why I love what I do as a blogger/freelancer, I can truly work anywhere.
I think its everyone’s dream job to be able to travel, see the world and work on their own terms. I am going to have to position myself to be able to do it for a living.
I would love to travel and to see the world! Having an RV is a good way to do this!!!
Nikka Shae recently posted…‘Tis the Season for Holiday Fun at Six Flags
My husband and I were recently talking about how we would love a full time rv lifestyle. It looks like there are a lot of ways to pull this off.
I never knew there were so many opportunities to work and travel! I wish I could do something like this. Unfortunately my husband does not have a traveling type of occupation!
Travel nurses are big in our area right now. I could see how you could make a living as one while RVing full time!
Travelling for work has become a lot more common again. I love travelling but I don’t know how well I would do with living in a RV.
I would LOVE this lifestyle! I have been looking into an RV for weekend trips with my girls. I would love to have these memories with them.
I have definitely fantasized about seeing the country and living full time in an RV. I wondered about how to make money on the way. These are interesting ideas!
These are all great ways to make money while RV living. It would be so much fun and cheaper in the end to be a RVer I believe. I have never heard of a travel nurse which I found interesting. Thanks for sharing the inforamtion.
What an awesome post! I didn’t realize that was even possible. Maybe when my kiddos are grown I will do this.
Wow, I like to make a living RVing. I am planning to take nursing and will definitely consider being a traveling nurse someday.
Garf recently posted…Last Minute Stocking Stuffers for Women #OrganicDoctor
Opportunities are endless these days when it comes to online jobs. Thanks for this, I would love to do that when my kids are fgrown up.
Chubskulit Rose recently posted…Spending Christmas Time with Dad