How to Volunteer.

   I met a newly retired couple the other day at the VC and we got to talking about life after retirement.  I mentioned volunteering as a way to travel and stay at interesting places for next to nothing and to keep your brain from turning to mush.  Two sites come to mind.
   1.  Workamper.com    for someone who want to supplement their income by getting paid for working at a gift shop in a national park, or helping out at a RV park, or even conducting tours for a concessionaire at a park (ie. the red busses at Glacier Nat Park).  The jobs and conditions are not the same, but roughly you work 40 hours for a wage and you get free or reduced camping fees and maybe other compensations.  

   2. Volunteer.gov   for voulunteer positions for Federal agencies ( National Park Service, BLM, Forest Service, Corps of Engineers, etc).  The most common position offered is campground host where you stay at a specific park and collect fees, clean campsites and bathrooms, answer questions, etc for free camping.  However, the other jobs offered are many and varied, from tours guides, park rangers, maintenance helpers, visitor center personnel, and many more.  After logging into the webpage, select a state that interests you and maybe a keyword to help with the search.  After hitting the enter key, sit back and read the paragraphs that pop up.  As you scroll down you will see something that requires further investigation, so by clicking, you can read further.  If the position sounds interesting, there will be a place to click to fill out an application and send it in.  Also there will be an email address to find out further information. 

   So if you are thinking about the volunteer life, check these sites out.