Courtesy of Emma Hymes
- Emma Hymes, 22, left her job as a pharmacy tech to travel the US in an RV with her boyfriend.
- Now, they take seasonal work. They typically stay in one place for a few months before heading to another.
- This is Hymes' story, as told to writer Fortesa Latifi.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Emma Hymes, a 22-year-old seasonal worker. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I went to college for a year before I realized that it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to travel, experience new things, and live life on the road, so I became a seasonal worker. Now, I change towns and jobs every few months.
My boyfriend and I live in a 1997 RV that we drive around the country. We started living like this in 2021, and we found so many resources — like forums and Facebook groups — for seasonal workers searching for their next job. There's also this great website, Coolworks, that has a lot of job postings and information.
We usually stay at a job and location for about 3 to 6 months, depending on how much we like the area
When we start a seasonal work position, we sign a contract for a set amount of time, but the employers are usually really understanding if we want to leave before then.
There's this sense among those in seasonal work that if you find a cooler job in a better place, you have to go there. Right now, we're living and working in North Carolina, where I'm a front desk clerk for a campground and my boyfriend works in maintenance and groundskeeping.
I love the community we've found in fellow seasonal workers
We meet people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles, and we get to experience small pieces of their culture. It's such a cool way to live.
Because seasonal work isn't always lucrative, a lot of the other seasonal workers are retired people who had to save up money to be able to live their seasonal worker dreams. My boyfriend and I are of the mind that we should do this now. Sometimes it's difficult financially, but we've learned to live frugally and figure things out.
"Why wait to live how we want?" we think. We should do it now. And we are!
There are some downsides of seasonal work
It's really difficult to be away from family, especially my younger brother. He's 8 years old and heartbroken that I'm not home, but I know he'll understand when he's older.
Living in an RV was also a huge adjustment. My boyfriend is 6-foot-5, so we had to make sure we found a vehicle big enough for him, which wasn't an easy feat. The key to living like this is being comfortable with your partner.
The positives outweigh the negatives, and the best part is feeling like we're camping all the time. We're always outside, appreciating nature, and building campfires. It's amazing.
This isn't a lifestyle you live if you're hoping to make a lot of money
We hope to do this as long as we can afford to. Some jobs have really limited hours, like a position we took in Arkansas this winter where we each only worked 10 hours a week.
That was hard financially. There were a lot of nights when we ate ramen noodles for dinner, but we were working in a retired missile silo, which was the coolest thing. We took the job because it was such an interesting environment to work in, and financially, we made it.
When we were in South Dakota, we were 5 miles away from Mount Rushmore
Right now, in North Carolina, we both work 30 hours a week, which is really nice. There are two lakes and a river that runs through the campground we work at. It's gorgeous.
Last October, we worked the Sugar Beet Harvest, which you might have seen in the movie Nomadland. A dream of ours is to work in Glacier National Park or Yellowstone.
I was always interested in seasonal work, but the pandemic really pushed me to embrace this lifestyle
I was a pharmacy tech during the spring of 2020, and I was miserable working long hours with high stakes and not seeing my family or boyfriend that much.
Now, I get to enjoy my life. It's really nice to do a job that isn't as serious as working in a pharmacy during a pandemic. I always wanted to travel and live this nomadic lifestyle, and now I get to. I also share my experience of being a seasonal worker on TikTok and Instagram, which has been great for building a community.
It takes a lot of effort to make this lifestyle work, but I love it
Sure, sometimes your RV overheats while trying to drive up a hill. Other times, it can take a while to find your next job.
But if this is what you want, there are ways to make it work. I can't wait to see where we go next.
source https://www.businessinsider.com/seasonal-worker-i-quit-my-job-live-rv-job-diary-2022-6