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Get
Paid While You Visit Resorts
Retiree
"travel jobs" are often jobs where you are
behind the counter--as a sales clerk in a gift shop or
at the front desk of a resort at your favorite
destination. Or even behind the scenes entirely.
Often these are
jobs you never considered before in locations you may
have already visited as a tourist. Or they may be
in locations you want to visit now that you are retired.
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Many are in the
hospitality industry--in hotels, resorts, ski resorts, lodges, shops, and restaurants. And many of them are seasonal,
lasting only a few months in summer or winter or whatever season
the tourists arrive at that destination.
Keep in mind that as a
retiree you will compete against other people who want these
jobs: college students and post-college young people, locals, and immigrants who come to the U.S.
on special Visas to work in hospitality jobs.
So here are some
suggestions for being able to spend time living and working at
popular destinations. You can also start with suggestion
Number 1.
4. National
Parks. Every year the National Park Service hires
thousands of people to work in the parks from Alaska to
Florida. So pick your destination of choice and apply for
one of dozens of jobs they have listed. Perhaps you want
to be a front desk clerk at a National Park lodge. Or keep
the inventory of supplies the Park buys. Or be a bartender for
a few months. The jobs are basic to the hospitality
industry--only the locations are amazing. Each National
Park's website has a listing of Employment Opportunities.
| 5.
Tour Guide. You need the stamina of a team of
horses and the patience of Job to be a guide for
tourists visiting a location in the U.S. or overseas for
several days or longer. And the pay is not all
that great. Before you pursue this type of work,
consider having to deal with tourists' health emergencies, really
tired and demanding tourists, and being on-call 24 hours
a day for days or weeks on end. Being a tour
guide for a local tour company near where you live can
be a lot more fun; for a few hours you ride along in a
bus or van and tell the visitors about local sites. Then
you go home and get on with your life. Contact
your local tour companies to find out more. They
may also do regional tours that would take you from your
home to other great destinations in your area. |
| A
Real Life Retirement:
Snowbirds
Bob and Liz travel in an RV from their permanent
home in Minnesota to spend several months near
Phoenix each winter. But they do not
arrive empty handed. Their RV is packed
with things they have made with garlic -- salad dressings,
jars of mixed spices, a variety of foods, even garlic
soap. (That's no misspelling: garlic soap,
not garlic soup!) And once they settle in near Phoenix
they sell their unique items at open air
markets and to fellow residents in the snowbird
park. By the time they return north, they have
paid for much of the expense of wintering
in a warm climate with their garlic goodies. |
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6. Airlines.
Our friend Elaine retired in her mid-fifties and went to work
for an airline doing passenger security, then moved up to being
a reservations clerk. With no children at home, she
was willing to work from 5 p.m. 'til midnight and for that she
got to fly all over the world for next to nothing. These
jobs are not as available today. But nothing
ventured, nothing gained. Go to the airlines websites and
check out their Employment Opportunities. And be willing
to work odd hours or on holidays.
7. The Peace
Corps. There is no age limit for joining the Peace
Corps and doing good, valuable work in countries around the
world. Currently the oldest member of the Peace Corps is
in his 80s. Go to the Peace Corps website for details.
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Your
feedback and comments are welcome. If you have
experiences or ideas to share, please send
feedback now.
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NOTE: All names
on this site have been changed to protect individual privacy.
The stories are real, the names are not.
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