Workamping … wait what?

Yeah, we know … You read the intro, and it clearly said we quit our jobs and we’re going to live the dream of traveling through the US, skipping through the flowers, and eating ice cream. Well, that’s still true to a point. 

But this summer we decided to try what they call “workamping”. Essentially it’s being camp hosts of a campground. It could be a national forest, run by a concessionaire, or a privately owned campground. Not hard, right? Check a few people in. Answer some questions, and make sure toilet paper is full. Well … yes and no. They are not all the same. People are not all the same. We have learned so much this summer, and though there were some frustrating, tired times, with some very long days, we really did enjoy our time at Holland Lake in Montana.

I’m pretty sure the next time we agree to be camp hosts, I will be buying Justin a t-shirt that says “Don’t feed the camp host”. But thank you to all our new friends who felt Justin was possibly losing weight and sent him home with salad, prime rib and oh yeah … the beer! Most days our conversation went much like this:

Stacy to Justin: “Can you run to the other campground loop and check fee tubes?”

(Two hours later Stacy uses the walkie-talkie provided by the campground owners)

Stacy: “Justin? Did you fall in the lake?”

Justin: “Sorry, talking, be right there” (THIS . MAN . CAN . TALK)

Sometimes I’d wait another …. many minutes and he’d walk in carrying food! 

We got so many smiles, hugs, and we met some incredible people, including our new very good friends Bob and Kellie. We are so incredibly blessed that a summer job turned into a life long friendship and a promise to catch up with them sometime, somewhere next summer. We met so many amazing people. Too many to mention. Brian and Annie who finally got married at the lodge. “The Susan’s” who gave us great conversations, laughs and yes … food and beer! Most of these people don’t even realize how they truly impacted us! Thank you!!!!

If you all are ever in the area, you will find the cleanest pit toilets and bathrooms ever at this campground. Ha Ha Well … at least when we were hosting. We must have gotten 100+ people tell us it was the cleanest bathrooms they’ve ever seen at a campground. BOOYA!! We rocked!!

So if you’re thinking about hosting at a campground, do it! You’ll meet some amazing people! Possibly eat some amazing food!?!? Ha Ha Maybe we’ll come back to Holland Lake next year! Or the following year. But either way … if you all are ever there, or planning to be there, check it out. Make sure you jump online 6 months in advance … and reserve your spots! Did I mention … it’s a very busy campground? Our two favorite walk-in sites (no reservations needed) are 18 & 30 in the Bay loop, or 1, 2 and 3 in the Larch loop. Sweet spots! But good luck. Please don’t bribe the current occupants. LOL (Yes, we saw some crazy things).

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Our Advice: Ask lots of questions about what your job at the campground entails. Take time off! Smile! If you’re having a bad day or things are stressful, it’s not the campers fault! They are there to have a few days of a vacation they very rarely get. We constantly got comments about how happy we were and there were a few times we were sleep deprived, and exhausted. Explore and see what you can around the area. Each workamping job will be so different. Different place, different amenities, different job expectations.  And last but certainly not least  —  keep those bathrooms clean! People like that!