Akademik

n.

A person who uses a recreational vehicle to travel from one temporary job to another. [Work + camper.]

—workamp v.

—workamping n.

Workampers are people who drive RVs around the country, from temporary job to temporary job, docking in trailer camps. "We're retired but we can't..." another explains to me about himself and his wife, shrugging, "make it. And there's no jobs, so we go where the jobs are."

Amalgamated advertises positions on websites workampers frequent. In this warehouse alone, there are hundreds of them.

—Mac McClelland, " I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave: http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=4," Mother Jones, March 1, 2012

The coupling of RV travel and seasonal employment is known as "workamping," a movement that dates back two decades. The average age of a workamper is 59 and the estimated population of the roving community is climbing, according to Steve Anderson, editor of Workamper News. About 750,000 people are on the roll.

—Lisa Rose, " Workamping' gives outdoors enthusiasts seasonal jobs at parks and refuges: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/workamping_gives_outdoors_enth.html," The Star-Ledger, July 11, 2011

There is something special about the RV lifestyle that attracts millions of people. Many of them wish they could make a living while they're seeing the country. A new resource helps in that direction. "Workamper News" is a unique guide to living and working in an RV.

—Joyce Lain Kennedy, " Newsletter has job tips for RV fans: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-3915258.html," Chicago Sun-Times, November 20, 1988

According to the Workamper News website: http://www.workamper.com/, the first edition of Workamper News was published in August, 1987, so that's the true earliest citation.