rumors are flying on the forums about many waiting for positions and no available gates. I have no idea if this is true or not but have heard up to 30 waiting as of last week end. We arrived in the area last Saturday and got a gate the next day. Maybe just very fortunate? not sure.

We are 16 miles from the nearest town with any services. Our gate is right off a black top road and we are right next to the rig. Some gates are way out in the boonies. This rigs previous location was a 45 minute drive off the black top down a caliche road according to the workers.

Not sure about taking time off to explore, it is possible but If there are indeed a lot of people waiting for gates I would hesitate leaving a paying gig and being shut out when you want to come back in a week or two to work again.
Our intention for gate guarding is to build the coffers back up so we can do more things next season as our budget is fairly tight. The $$ we earn here gives us the chance to take more time off to see the grand kids, visit a new area, take an extended motorcycle trip etc.

There are a few people I am aware of that can watch your gate for an afternoon if needed. Having someone move in for more than a day would be difficult depending on your site. Most of the sites I have seen only have room for 1 RV so you would have to make room for their RV or let them use yours, something you may not be comfortable with.

I have been blogging regularly on our time here so feel free to visit my blog (link below) for a little more information on our life here.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

Travel safe,

Phil