Have you ever been to a campground with a camp host? The camp host might come around and make sure camping fees are paid. Camp hosts can answer questions and sometimes sell firewood.

Until recently I thought camp hosts were typically older couples. I thought people working as camp hosts had to live in big, fancy RVs with full hookups. I thought the only thing camp hosts received in exchange for their hosting was a place to park their big, fancy RVs. I recently learned that the beliefs I had about camp hosting are not always true.

Sometimes camp hosts are older couples, but younger people and single people and single younger people work as camp hosts too. Some camp host jobs require a couple, but the two people in the couple don’t necessarily have to be romantically involved. The two people in the couple might be required to share a living space, but they could be buddies or best friends or a parent and adult child. My understanding is that some jobs are too big for one person, but there’s only one allocated spot for the hosts’ living space, so the “couple” shares the living space and each does his/her portion of the job.

It turns out that not all camp hosts live in big, fancy RVs with full hookups. The RVs of some camp hosts are not so big and fancy, and some have no hookups. Even van dwellers can be camp hosts! In fact, sometimes it is difficult to find people to work at campgrounds with no or only partial hookups. RVers who have all the bells and whistles tend to want to use them, so RVers with sewage/water/electric capabilities usually want to work at campgrounds where they can hook everything up. So it sometimes helps folks get a job if they have no need or desire for water/sewage/electric hookups.

At some campgrounds, camp hosts only get “paid” with a free spot to park their RV. That can be a pretty good deal if the camp host doesn’t have to work many hours a day and if s/he already has an income. (I could not meet my needs if I were not receiving monetary compensation of some amount.) However, in other camp host positions, workers receive a free spot to live, as well as an hourly wage.

I have applied for a camp host job with a company that runs campsites on federal land and is responsible for hiring all staff needed. Each campground provides a spot for the camp host(s) to park his/her/their rig, AND pays state minimum wage for every hour worked.

Of course, I have not yet worked as a camp host, so I can’t tell you all about it. Bob Wells has worked as a camp host (for four summers, I think), so if you want to read about his experiences, go to his blog at http://www.cheaprvliving.com/workamping/ and read his story. (On the Workamping page, scroll about a third of the way down to “What is the job like?”)

Hopefully I will get my own camp host job this summer, and then I’ll be able to share my experiences.