Make Money While RVing – Here Is How You Can Do It

How To Make Money While RVing

The following is a podcast transcript about how to make money while RVing:

Hello everyone and welcome to the RV inspection and Care podcast. This is podcast number four.

Before we start, let me invite you to please subscribe to my podcast. There’s going to be a lot of great RVing topics and subjects coming up soon.

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And interviews as well, so be sure you subscribe and don’t miss any of it!

Right now, let’s get along to our topic for today’s podcast. And that is, how do you go about making money while traveling in an RV?

Now this is a huge topic. And there is great interest in this particular subject.

The good news is that there’s never been as many opportunities to be able to work and travel full-time or part-time in your RV as there are today. That’s the great news!

That’s because of modern technology, generally speaking. So let’s go ahead and talk about the options that we have for working as we travel.

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Table of Contents

Make Money While RVing – Online Work

The first section I’m going to talk about is online work. Because I know what the dream is.

A lot of folks have a dream in their mind about what it’s going to be like when they travel in their RV.

They feel that by working online they can just take their laptop and sit in their comfy chair by the campfire and make money online.

This is while they’re traveling from campground to campground across the country on a never-ending vacation. Well that sounds great, doesn’t it?

I’m sorry to say that it is very rare that something like that actually happens. The reality is that working online can be very challenging.

So let’s talk about the options that we have there. First of all let’s talk about freelancing. What is freelancing anyway?

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Make Money While RVing – Freelancing

Well, it’s generally offering your services that you can provide for others on a short term basis. You offer that service to one person after the next.

So here are a few suggestions of things that you can do. Perhaps being a virtual assistant.

Or maybe helping with web design, if you know how to build web pages or websites. Those are great things to freelance.

If you have experience as a programmer or you can code well, that’s a real opportunity for freelancing there.

You see, all of these things are more or less things that relate to technology.

And therefore they don’t require any physical location to be able to perform your service. You can find work online for that.

There’s a couple of websites I want to mention here too. One is upwork.com and the other is fiverr.com.

On both of these sites you can go and advertise your abilities and your skills. And then you can schedule jobs as they relate to your services.

And you can do this as a freelancer. So this is one way to make money online.

Make Money While RVing – Remote Work

The next way that you can make money online is by remote work. Here we are more or less talking about working for a company somewhere.

And the company doesn’t require for you to actually be in a location. They they don’t ask you to come in to work. You can just connect in through the internet.

Well if you can work remotely at home, there’s a very good chance that you can take that work on the road as well.

Now there’s just a couple of things that we just talked about so far. And that is freelancing and remote work.

And they’re both going to require that you have a good internet connection as you travel.

That may sound pretty easy to do. But let me tell you from experience, about one of the biggest challenges that RVers face.

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And that is how to maintain a really good internet connection no matter where you go.

But you’re going to have to do that. Because you can’t be out of connection with the people that you’re working for.

Sell Things Online To Make Money

All right, let’s move on to the next thing you could do online. And that is that you could start a business that sells things online.

You could use websites like Etsy or Ebay or Amazon and sell things.

Now there is a little bit of a drawback here. Because to sell things you have to have inventory.

And as you know, traveling with your RV you have to keep your weight down. And space is usually at a premium.

The things that you carry with you then have to be kept in small spaces. So inventory can be a little bit of an issue.

That means that you need to choose things that won’t take up a lot of space. And won’t weigh an awful lot, but you could still sell online.

You also have to figure out a way to ship them as you’re going across the country too.

Now with Amazon you can do something called FBA or Fulfilled by Amazon.

What that means is that you send whatever you have to sell to them. And when the person buys, it then is shipped from Amazon. Meaning that it’s fulfilled by them.

So that’s a way you could do it. The whole idea is that you need to have some product or thing that you sell. And then you need to have a platform to sell it on. And then a way to fulfill those sales.

Make Money While RVing – YouTube & Blogging

Now the next thing that you could do online is you could make YouTube videos like yours truly. And you could maybe make a blog like I do and so on.

You know that’s what a lot of people kind of have in their mind. They say “Hey you know what? We’ll go on youtube! We can head across the country, and we’ll have all these fabulous adventures. Then we’ll make videos about it and we’ll blog about it. And people are going to just follow us like crazy.”

Well, that is a really nice idea. But in practical reality it doesn’t happen as easily as it may sound.

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Yes, you can do those things. And yes, there are those who get great results in very short periods of time.

I mean I’ve seen some YouTube channels that just explode. And they have a hundred thousand or more subscribers in a matter of just a few months.

But please let me caution you… that is not the norm at all.

Instead YouTubing and blogging is a long, slow slog in most cases with most people. I’m talking from experience.

I never expected my YouTube videos or my website to just blow up into popularity right off the bat.

And it’s definitely been more of a long term investment in time and energy.

So if you are thinking of trying this type of thing, just make sure that you have the correct mindset.

And if you do, then yes, it is a viable way to make money. Just expect to be very patient.

And expect it to take some time before you’re really being supported by it.

A Caution About Being Self-employed

Now all the things that we’ve talked about so far, are about working for yourself.

It’s not the case with when you’re doing remote work. But these other things, yes you’re working for yourself.

So let me interject something here If you haven’t been self-employed before or just worked for others, there is a whole other facet to this thing that you need to learn about and work on. And what is that?

Well, when you are working for yourself, you are now responsible for the accounting of what’s going on with your business.

All the money you take in, all the money you put out, you now have to keep track of that.

And either you become the accountant or you need to pay someone to do that for you. It’s an expense then.

Also it’s not only accounting you need to learn, but you also need to learn about taxes. Because taxes aren’t going to be simple anymore.

If you work for someone else, it’s very simple to fill out your taxes at the end of the year.

When you’re self-employed though, there’s a whole other thing to taxes.

You also need to learn about things like insurance and licenses and so on.

I’m certainly not trying to discourage you. And I’m definitely not trying to be Duane the Downer on this.

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But I am trying to give you reality before you look into having your own business online. Or anywhere else.

Just think about what I’ve just told you. And make sure you’re looking into these other auxiliary parts that go along with being self-employed.

That way you’re preparing well. Not just for the business itself, but for all that goes with it.

Make Money While RVing – Offline Work

Okay now we talked about online ways of making money. Let’s talk about offline work too.

Offline work is something that a lot of people hesitate and hold back from.

But the reality is, you’re probably more likely to get that kind of work on a consistent basis than online work. At least to start with.

Make Money By Workamping

So let’s start with our first option and that is workamping. And what is workamping anyway?

Well, it’s kind of a catch-all term. And it essentially means that as you go across the country you work for short stints for others as you travel.

An example might be doing jobs in campgrounds or becoming part of a campground staff.

There’s a big demand for that. So that’s something you could do. On the other hand, you could also work at amusement parks.

It tends to be seasonal work but it is work that can be done offline. Or you could go to work during the harvest seasons, like the beet harvest.

That’s a a very popular one for a lot of RVers. They get paid really well for a short period of time.

Amazon during the holiday season is another one and so on. Actually there are lots of temporary ways to make money as you go across the country.

You just need to kind of familiarize yourself with the options that are out there. And there are websites where you can find that kind of work.

You just need to put a little effort into finding those sites and locating the options you have. If you are interested in pursuing that kind of work.

Make Money While RVing – Sell Things Offline

Now the next way that you could work offline is that you could once again sell things. But instead of just selling them online, you could sell them offline.

For instance, you could go to small craft fairs, festivals, farmers markets etc. You get the idea. You’ve seen those folks that are selling their wares.

Well, you can make money if you get the right products. And if you promote it the right way, and you’re in the right places. So that’s another way to do it.

You could even combine that with online advertising or selling as well. So it is a way to make money while on the road.

Now let’s move on to two more ways of making money offline while you are RVing. And these are, in my opinion, a little under-utilized.

Become a Certified RV Inspector

One way is to become a certified RV inspector like me. Yes, the organization that usually does that is NRVIA.

Make money while RVing by getting certified as an RV inspector from the NRVIA.
Duane is Certified by the NRVIA

And you can go to their school and take the classes that are needed for certification.

You’ll learn all about how to inspect RVs and they’ll certify you. And then you’re off to the races. This is especially good for married people in my opinion.

It works great for us! Because my wife, Cheri, can do the inspection on the inside of the coach while I’m working on the outside.

Then whoever gets done first can help the other one. So it works very well for a married couple.

Why? Because you’re actually getting two people working at the same time.

So it cuts your time on the inspection in half. And that’s really good.

Now the great thing I’ll say about the inspection process is, it’s a great job to do as you travel.

Because as you go across the country, the NRVIA gets requests for inspections all the time.

And they note where you are in the country. So if a request comes in from your area, then you’ll get information from them.

And then you have the chance to get that job or that inspection.

Making A Full-Time Income On The Road

But don’t expect that this is going to be a full-time income as you travel across the country.

I’m just trying to be realistic with you here. Does that mean that there are no full-time RV inspectors? By no means.

There are some that really do a lot of inspections every year. But they tend to be those that are in an area where they stay in that area.

Usually they’re in an area where there’s a lot of RV activity. Places like Florida, Arizona, maybe Texas and California which have very high RV traffic.

So they can stay there year round and make a full-time living being RV inspectors.

But please do be aware of one thing when you’re on the road and you’re traveling. Especially through these smaller states where RVing is not quite as popular as it is in others.

That is that you’re probably not going to get nearly as many requests for inspections there. At least that’s been my experience.

But on the flip side of that is that we’ve gone all across this country. And we have gotten inspections and requests almost everywhere we’ve gone. So that’s very good news on that front.

Make Money While RVing – Become a Certified RV Repair Tech

Now let’s move on to the next way of making money offline. And this is the one that I think you can do to make a full-time living. It’s also very easy to do for almost anybody.

And that is going beyond becoming an RV inspector and becoming an RV repair technician as well.

Let me tell you, there is demand for this everywhere you go right now.

Now the NRVIA certifies inspectors. But the NRVTA certifies repair technicians.

So you can go to their school and they’ll teach you all about how to repair RVs. Yes, it costs money but it’s an investment in your future.

Now once you are certified, then wherever you travel, you can perform repairs on RVs.

And I can tell you from my experience that I go into lots of campgrounds. And there’ll often be one, maybe two or more RV repair techs in that campground.

From my observation, they also seem to stay really, really busy.

How To Get Business As An RV Repair Tech

You know, you can put a little sign in the front of your RV. Or just put some on your rig itself that says you’re an RV repair tech.

And then you’re going to have people come to you asking about problems they’ve got with their RV.

I see a lot of these techs that spend time going from one RV to the next in the same campground.

But there’s also other ways to get jobs as you travel the country as a repair tech though.

There are websites where you can get leads from people that are looking for a repair tech in their area.

Right now the whole RV industry is exploding. So the repair tech industry is just out of sight.

I think that you can pretty much set your schedule at this point. And you can have as much work or as little work as you wish to have.

There’s so many new RVers out there. And so many RVs that have gone on the road in the last few years, that the work is there.

So if you are ready, you are prepared, and you are certified, you can definitely make money doing that as you travel. And make a really good full-time living doing so.

Now what we’ve covered today is just a few of the methods you can use to make money on the road.

I can’t go on and on though because this podcast would just become way too long.

But the things I’ve covered today are what I feel are some of the major ways that you can make money as you’re traveling in your RV.

Make Money While RVing – Words Of Advice

However, here’s a few pieces of advice. If you’re starting a business, expect it to take time to build.

Do not expect a business to just immediately go boom and you’re going to be making all this money.

I have started a lot of businesses in my life. And I have had them become very successful.

But there’s a common feature from all of them. And that is that when you start them out, it’s the hardest part.

It’s never easy in the early going, so understand that. And that leads to another point of advice.

Economize as much as you possibly can when you are operating your own business on the road.

At the start, yes, you’re going to have ups and downs as your business begins.

So economize, try to cut back on your expenses as much as you possibly can.

And that way when you go into the lean times, they won’t be nearly as difficult to deal with.

When Should You Start Making Money?

Here’s another suggestion. Before you go on the road. You know, before you decide “okay let’s hit the road!” Get your business established first.

Don’t go out there and then begin your business. Get it off the ground while you’re stationary. It’ll be a lot easier that way.

I did that myself. And I’m really happy that I did. I also see other people that have done that as well.

And those that do focus on their business before they go out on the road seem to do so much better as a result of that.

Make Money While RVing – Learn As Much As You Can

Read as much as you can on this subject. I mean just become a voracious reader about ways to make money while traveling.

Talk to others who have done it. Talk to RVers who are making money on the road.

How do they do it? What are the suggestions that they can offer you? What are the things that they can tell you?

You don’t want to make the mistakes they made. And you can learn from those other RVers who have already traveled down the road you are embarking on.

Multiple Streams Of Income Are Best

Here’s another personal piece of advice. I feel like it’s a great idea to have multiple streams of income as you’re traveling in your RV.

In other words, you don’t rely on just one thing to make all your money.

Remember, if you put all your eggs in one basket, and the basket goes down, you’re in trouble.

But if you have multiple streams of income. Or in other words, you’re doing two or more different things to bring in money while you travel.

Then if something gets a little lean for a while, you’re not just wiped out.

You have something else that you can do that’ll help make money in those lean times. That’s a personal recommendation from me.

Make Money While RVing – Stay Open To New Ideas

Also, as you go, if this is something you really want to do, then stay open to new ideas.

There’s a lot of things out there that you’re never going to find out about till you actually get out there and start doing it.

And you will meet new people and learn about new ways to do things. Then you may find something better than what you have started out with to make money.

And if you do, well then that’s when you can begin to make a decision. Ask yourself “do I want to make the switch now or do I want to keep doing what I’m doing”?

The point is, don’t be close-minded. Be open-minded and open to new ideas as you go.

You never know what you may learn about how to make money while RVing.

Conclusion

Well I hope what I’ve covered so far today has been helpful for you.

I tried to share a honest assessment about how to make money while RVing. And ways that you can do that.

So I hope I’ve given you some ideas that will help you think more about making preparations for life while traveling in an RV.

Well, that’s it for now. Have safe and happy travels my friends. Until next time….

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