By Louis J. Finkle, Ph.D.
The number of people transitioning from home-base to a full-time RV lifestyle is growing at a faster rate than we have seen since Hurricane Katrina left 100,000+ families in limbo. The evictions of nearly 3,000,000 American families from their rental units during 2021 will add to the COVID pandemic fallout, where thousands of citizens are surging from cities to country settings. The combination of these factors overshadows previous migration statistics by more than five-fold. The effect, for those of us who either live the roaming lifestyle or work in supplying various sectors of RV industries, are overwhelmed campgrounds nationally.
In recent articles, there have been reports on the effective overcrowding of campgrounds, increased fees at campgrounds, sudden demands for more RVs to be built and the need to educate “RVing newbies” moving from fixed housing to a full-time vehicular life. Now we find ourselves answering more questions about RV life than ever before! Even those of us who live the RV lifestyle are becoming overwhelmed by this sudden expansion of problems!
During the past four decades I have taught, tutored and met hundreds of entrepreneurs, military veterans, academics and remote workers in campgrounds. I became convinced that there are unlimited ways in which people can work remotely from their RV. Incomes have ranged from a few thousand dollars per year, to some who earn several thousand dollars per week! One couple, who market vehicles as independent agents, earn more than $100,000 per year, part-time! They do so from their motorhome. They make use of widespread internet availability in nearly every campground, every day.
Opportunities to work remotely are unlimited
The only limitation from duplicating such success is one’s lack of imagination that may restrict learning new skills. The opportunities to work remotely are so numerous that I suspect many more self-help books and articles will be published to guide those who wish to travel and work while RVing. This is a growing industry. Opportunities are expanding faster than most of us can track.
Such opportunities are as varied as types of skills, personalities and interests of people experimenting with new ideas. Each RVer can choose to work in a field, business, hobby, interest or manner that makes the most sense for them. While most folks work remotely from their homes, the shift to RVing can be easily made. Nearby Wi-Fi spots, cafes, truck stops, welcome centers, etc., provide internet access during stop/rest times. In most truck stops, one can stay overnight free. This allows access to food, facilities, showers, fuel, Wi-Fi and ample time to sleep at night.
Many websites cater to remote job opportunities
As to finding opportunities to work independently on the road, there are many websites that cater to remote job opportunities. An example is a site called We Work Remotely. It claims to be the “largest remote work community in the world.” I have not delved further into its claim that they host over 3M visitors. I just added this as an example of what you can find on the internet. For those who are interested, simply type “remote job opportunities”, or similar search phrase, to research other avenues.
If the RVer has a full-time remote job, this makes it even easier than those who do contractual work, sales, agency and other independent operations. Once one gets used to the idea of RVing and remote work, it can become nearly as comfortable in an RV as working from home. For me, as a volunteer helping military veterans travel and meet with other military RVing families, remote writing from my RV provides the opportunities of visiting parks, museums, campgrounds, ports, mountains, etc.
Now that all these new opportunities are emerging, they should draw me into the arena of remote working. However, I will continue to just travel in my RV, write articles and help fellow veterans as we meet at rallies, musters, events, conventions and caravans!
Louis J. Finkle, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology, U.S. Navy veteran and a member of the national organization of RVing veterans S*M*A*R*T.
##RVT1015
Since the author references his experiences over the last forty years as a basis for his observations about nomadic life and remote work, I think it is fair to point that an exponential increase in migration due to the effects of climate warming will likely swell the number of vehicle occupants even more over the next forty years. (A simple google search on “climate warming migration in US” will bring up a number of articles referencing various studies on the topic.) This warming will not only make many current sun-belt areas unlivable for many, but it will also push agriculture farther north, even into Canada, and push even more refugees from Central America into the US, further exacerbating racial and cultural tensions. The effect on other industries and businesses, especially local ones, will be to further swell the roles of the unemployed and increase competition in the service industries that are a primary component of current nomadic occupations. And fossil fuels…whither?
The article talks about “widespread internet availability”. While that might be true in urban areas, most campgrounds are in more rural areas. Internet connectivity at most parks is poor at best. Cell connectivity gets impacted by all the folks streaming TV and movies. The wireless network still isn’t robust enough to handle the demands. The article is well intentioned, long on the dream of working remotely but short on the reality of working remotely.
So far, for writing articles and email communications, access has not been a major problem. Perhaps for those coding, programming, streaming video, teleconferencing, there may be problems wish accessibility and speed. It depends on how flexible one is as we travel. Most of my problems in accessing have been in countries other than the EU and US.
Thank you for your service. Enjoy your travels. 🇺🇲
You are welcome! I am trying to encourage every veteran who may want to travel to consider the RV lifestyle. For 20 years, it has been my passion. Thank you for reading.
whats your source for the 3 million evicted from their homes during COVID-19? I thought they had canceled them and even extended the moratoriums in most states?
The actual number of “tenants in arrears” is 7,500,000 families. The number of those who have applied for assistance or filed for extensions is closer to 3,300,000. It is anticipated that up to 4 million will be able to remain in their apartments if extensions, reliefs, subsidies, etc.. can be found. Keeping up with statistics is cumbersome so, to be safe, I rounded out to 3 million.
The rental moratorium program was NOT a cancellation of rents but a DEFERRAL. This means that although those affected were not required to pay their current rents, those rents were merely deferred until the termination of the program, at which time not only current but all past payments become due…a HUGE balloon payment that will immediately cause the eviction of the estimated 3 million renters who don’t receive government grants to help with rental negotiations.
The DEFERRAL of rents did not work. Many tenants lived in apartments or homes for up to a year and skipped out on their landlord. That landlord still had to pay the mortgage, insurance, and needed repairs on the property. I am considering purchasing an RV and found the article quite helpful.
Not really helpful. Rambles on and on but no real help finding an income
That’s up to the person with ambitions to work remotely.
The intent of the article is to become more aware of the many facets of an everchanging RV lifestyle. Each person would have to determine what skills they could offer to an organization, company or institution.
There are plenty of much more extensive articles on working nomadically IF those who need one choose to put the effort into googling the subject…