Hello everyone,
After lurking for almost a year, I am ready to introduce ourselves, and get started with this great family of R.V.ers!

My name is Karen, my husband of almost 30 years (this October) is Al, and we travel with our 2 furkids, a golden retriever Chelsea (8) and an Irish Setter Casey (4). Great little campers! We are not full-timing yet, but if the plans come to fruition, we should be on the road work-camping by next summer!

We are still in the major planning stages: we have our family business to put to rest after running it for over 30 years. It is definitely time to make a change . We have my husband's mom to get resettled down in Florida this winter, along with his sister who will be staying with her most of the time. We do plan to spend the winters in the same area as to swap off the caretaking, not that she needs alot of care, but company at her age is very important. We have our current home to clean out, whip into shape, and will be rented for a couple of years before deciding to sell it....we need to make sure everyone will be happy where they are situated before making a "no turn back" move, correct? We have a house in Florida that is rented, which we are going to put on the market, as the area is no longer suitable for our needs. Thankfully, the value of the area hasn't sunk as bad as most of Florida!

After a TON of research, we're almost 100% settled on a rig, and hope to hear positive comments, the Carriage Cameo? Tow vehicle will most likely be a F450. I'm pretty sure I will be able to get sensible answers to almost any question we have here on these forums, it's so much more civilized than other rv'ing forums .

A BIG question I have is how difficult do most people think it will be to land work camping jobs being that we travel with our dogs? Any experience with this? And please don't say leave them home, that's not an option .

Anyway, I love this web site, it's sooo informative, I'm slowly making my way through the journal from the beginning, and learning something new all the time. We're really looking forward to jumping off the rat race treadmill, living life more simply, and taking time to enjoy things again! Thanks so much for reading this, and hope to see many of you on the road!! Cheers to all!

Karen

Howdy and welcome Karen and Al. We travel with a dog and workamp also. It's hard with one dog, not sure how difficult it will be with 2 dogs. There are host jobs out there that will allow you to take your dog to work with you, as long as they are friendly and behaved. This summer we were able to work split shifts...the DW works her 2 days with one of the other host guys, and then I work 2 days with the other female host. (This isn't normal, but the park we are at hired 2 singles this summer so it worked out for us). You could hope to find someone to dog-sit for you, but I wouldn't expect them to do it for free. Unfortunately those are the only options I know of...

Welcome to The  forum Karen and Al!

We also have two (large) dogs (Snickers & Skittles) we will be traveling with, but we have lived in our 5er since April and still work our old jobs.  Our girls did just fine at the house all day by themselves, so they are used to the staying at home alone thing. 

I am now "workamping" at the local State Park we are living in until DH leaves his old job in March.  The dogs see more of us now then they did before, mainly because my job is closer to the house than before.  I think that you will still have time to play, walk and just spend time with them than you did before.  They are very well behaved and love to see the leash come out (oh boy mom, a walk!).

Everything that I read in the workamping forums say that the fulltimers/workampers with pets have no problem getting workamping jobs AND having their pets.
That's the thing about this lifestyle...you will be able to find the jobs that fit YOU!

Good Luck and Welcome aboard!

Doris

Welcome,we are here to help. The Carriage Cameo is a great rig and you would have a great home.I believe Fred Wishnie and his wife have a Cameo and are very pleased.

We're not workkampers, but we've seen some in most places we've stayed. It seems very common for the workkampers to have dogs. Almost all workkampers seem to work shifts or to provide for breaks in the day when your dogs' needs could be met if they can't make a full day without you. We have found dogs and cats at the office or nearby that belong to owners or workkampers, but then, we always stay at parks that allow pets! Best wishes in your continued research and planning!

Hi Karen & Al,

We've been very happy with our Cameo, after almost 5 years on the road and in weather from -14 to +105.

Although there are other fancier rigs that do the same, we just didn't see any reason to spend another $20-$30K and have to get a bigger truck to haul it.

-- Edited by Luvglass on Friday 20th of August 2010 09:11:38 AM

well since i will be in your class and have never workcamped... i can't offer any advice... but as a fellow class of 2011 i can offer a hearty welcome...

Thanks to all for the warm welcomes and encouraging responses. I will have many many questions in the coming months, and whereas I realize each individual's needs are different, I'm sure that there will be plenty of helpful tips and ideas coming. Thanks again, and we're looking forward to joining the friendliest families on the road .

Karen