Volunteering On The Road Part II – Where To Look For Openings

Polly was a shelter pup that I fostered in my pre-RV volunteering. She came, she conquered, she stayed

So, the very first step to figuring out how to volunteer on the road is figuring out where to look! Not all volunteer jobs are what I’d call RV friendly. For example many of the places I used to volunteer while in a “fixed” home (e.g. animal shelters) require training & longer-term commitments which are hard to do when you’re constantly moving around. Thankfully RV volunteering has developed quite a bit in recent years so that are many options out there…if you know where to find them.

Now I should point out that I DO make a distinction between volunteering and workamping, although you’ll sometimes hear the terms intermixed. In general workampers are RVers who work for $$ whereas volunteers are giving their time for free. There can be similarities (e.g some volunteer jobs do offer campsite benefits and many of the questions you’d ask up-front are the same for either job), but for the purpose of this series I’m going to focus on pure volunteering. Generally speaking volunteer jobs are shorter hours (not always true, but often the case), are not paid any $$ and may or may not provide any campsite benefits.

With that definition in place there are actually a TON of places to look and more jobs than you’ll ever imagine. Just to give you an example here is a list of RV-friendly volunteer jobs available at Bullards Beach State Park (just this ONE campground):

• Campground Host (“also called “Greeting Hosts”) - these folks monitor the campground, sell firewood, check the bathrooms, raise and lower flags, rake fire pits, stock brochures and other camp duties.
• Yurt Host – these folks monitor and clean the yurts.
• Lighthouse Host -  What we do.
• Relief Lighthouse Host – The folks that take over for us on our days off. They have other campground-assigned duties on other days.
• Maintenance Host – These hosts help with maintenance and grounds.
• Snowy Plover Host – These hosts help with preserving summer nesting for the Snowy Plover. Most of their on-duty time is spent at the nesting sites.
• Program Host - these folks run the PM programs and Jr Ranger Programs.

And that’s just here!! There are sooooooo many options out there I couldn’t possibly list them all, so I’ll just give a sprinkling of ideas of places to look:

1/ State Volunteer Programs

Every state runs volunteer programs that offer a wide range of opportunities from campground hosting to educational, historical or wildlife. Oregon’s Program is very well-organized (and comes wheelingit recommended ), but you can find openings anywhere across the US. Just pick your state and off you go!

2/ Public Lands Volunteering

All the public lands offer volunteer positions. The Bureau of Land Management offer campground hosting, minerals/geology, natural resources and much, much more. The National Park Program has a volunteer service, as does Corp Of Engineers. If you’re unsure of which agency to go to, the volunteer.gov website has connections to most of them and is a nice, centralized place to start looking.

3/ Volunteering With Animals

There are a few animal-related spots which welcome short-term volunteers. If you’re an animal lover Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in UT is a fabulous sanctuary which offers super-RV-friendy flexible volunteer hours and is simply a ”must do”. The Wild Horse Animal Sanctuary in SD offers short-term volunteering spots as does Desert Haven Animal Refuge in NM and Safe Harbor Farm in NC. Finally the US Fish and Wildlife service also offers a wealth of volunteer positions in fish hatcheries and wildlife refuges across the country.

4/ Volunteering For Disasters and People

The American Red Cross actively uses volunteers for disaster support. DOVE is a superb Escapees Organization that helps link RVers with Red Cross operations across the country. If you’re interested in building homes, RV Care-A-Vanners is an excellent RV organization that works with Habitat For Humanity (sign up early for builds since these are popular!). Several faith-based organizations also work cross-country including NOMADs, SOWER and RVICS.

5/ Archeological Digs & Historical Preservation

Passport In Time is a sub-division of the USDA Forest Service that links volunteers with various archeological and historical opportunities across-country. A totally unique program that’s very RV friendly too.

Many of these volunteer programs require NO prior experience and are open to either couples or single folk (we have one single gal volunteering here at Bullards Beach right now). If you’re interested in reading stories from RVers who’ve done this check out some of these stories on workamper, or read other bloggers such as Birding RVers (experienced lighthouse hosts) and Our Odyssey (long-time Red Cross volunteers). I’m sure there are no end of links, bloggers & ideas I’ve managed to miss so feel free to add a comment below too!

P.S. Last of the series coming up -> How to apply for and secure your dream job (including questions you should ask up-front before you commit)….oh, I can barely wait

Heading East & Last of The Black Hills, SD

We’ll we’re off East and further “out there” so not sure we’ll have blog access for a few days (we’ll see). In the meantime it’s time to say a last goodbye to the Black Hills of SD and our 2 weeks here. 

The Pahá Sápa, so named by the Sioux Indians for their dark Ponderosa Pines, are a sacred and rich hills wrapped in controversial history. Originally traditional hunting grounds, the hills were assigned to the Lakota at the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. However, peace was not to be. In 1874 General Custer discovered gold in the region and the draw was irresistible. Within 2 years 10,000 prospectors filled the area and a year later the US government seized back the land. It was the beginning of the massive Gold Rush the age of migration to the West. 

All this history is wrapped in the hills and there for you to experience, and we’ve been under, over and across to see it. Jewel Cave, the 2nd longest cave in the world (151 miles) lies ~12 miles West of Custer, and the area is flanked by another monster Wind Cave in the south. Marking the north is Mount Rushmore where the road leads all the way to historical Deadwood. Closer to Custer is the remarkable private undertaking of Crazy Horse, which will eventually be the largest mountain carving in the world and displays a wealth of Indian culture and history. And, of course there’s the hills, the berries, the wildlife and the hiking. 

Well worth a visit. As they say “we be back…” 

Sunrise at Stockade Lake in Custer State Park

Wildflowers in Custer

Hiking Hellhole Canyon w/ Paul & Polly in the East

The stunning Jewel Cave

The Crazy Horse Monument. It will eventually be 563 feet (172 m) high and will depict Crazy Horse on his mount pointing to the land of his people

The Black Hills as seen from the top of Lovers Leap

The Gem Nextdoor – Maroon Bells, CO

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads” (Henry David Thoreau)

You can buy your way into many things in life, but the real gems you gotta hunt for. If you’re the adventurous type you’ll find many of these hidden treasures in your lifetime. If you’re lucky every once in a while you’ll hit the jackpot and find something so outstanding, so special that you’ll want to wrap it up and keep it forever. 

Of course, Paul was one of those finds (can I hear a collective “awwwww”?), but we managed to snag another one a few days back just outside of Aspen. We’d come to this posh town mostly for a look-see and after a 3-minute drive through the main drag we’d accomplished that task completely. With time to spare and an adventurous spirit we decided to explore a little side-valley ~1 mile out of town that we’d seen on the way in.  Well, as it turns out, the side-trip was the cherry on the pudding and one of those keeper finds that etch themselves in your memory forever.

Maroon Bells is ~183,000 acre preserve in the Elk Mountains ~10 miles up Maroon Creek Road off Hwy 82. As you drive up the alpine road it reveals itself to you suddenly and with astonishment, like a colorful flower bursting open from a dull pod. Sharp, show-white peaks tower majestically above a crystal-clear lake enclosed by crimson cliffs and active streams. It’s a jaw-dropping place and totally unique to the area. Crafted by glacial movement and tinted by hematite (iron-bearing mineral), it’s the result of 34 million years of creation. Given it’s splendor it’s popular with the locals, but like all parks you’ll only need to walk ~1 mile down any trail to get away from the crowds. Six of the spectacular peaks crest over 14,000 feet, and with over 100 miles of trails several going over 12,000-foot passes you’ll have no issue losing yourself in the wild. 

So, next time you find yourself in Gucci-Aspen, skip the pearls and go explore the bargain-gem next door. 

The spectacular Maroon Bells

On the trail and in the wilderness just a few miles from Maroon Lake

View across Maroon Lake