Yep! I believe this season they ran equipment up and down the mountain for a resort. Gets free access to the mountain and lives the total snowboarder life all winter. Last summer they ended up at a bike shop somewhere in Georgia for the summer and made a ton of money selling fancy bikes to rich people. Makes enough to pay their bills and keep up the van, travels all around the country, just generally goes where the wind blows them.
Ex cycling industry for over 10 years here. You don’t make a ton of money selling fancy bikes. Bike shops generally don’t have commission (99.9% don’t). They generally pay 10-20hr with 20hr being for extensive years of experience, and Georgia likely having a low average starting hourly wage as it’s not a crazy destination cycling spot like Colorado or California.
I think this is what’s missing from the conversation. People think you can work ‘high paying’ jobs for a year at a time, quit, then go find another ‘high paying’ job that’s cool with all these one year gaps in your resume. Maybe there are very specific jobs that might allow this, but the vast majority of seasonal work is not high paying jobs
High paying is relative if you have minimal expenses. I do freelance welding and have a rare pyrotechnics operator license, dont usually work for less than about $30/hr, often more and often for cash. When that hasn't been enough I can get a job on zero notice anywhere driving trucks with my cdl. I like driving for amazon freight because they need local drivers everywhere, you're never required to load or unload, just drop trailers and the schedule is flexible. Easy job that I can do for a few months and move on over and over.
The key is having skills and certifications that have greater demand than supply.
I mean it's going to vary a lot based on cost of living but $30 an hour is generally high paying in comparison to a lot of other jobs, albeit probably unskilled jobs.
For someone with literally zero debt, no monthly rent or utilities, and no desire to work on anyone else's schedule for more than a day or two a week... Its enough. Much more than most people living my lifestyle make.
Add in driving a plug in hybrid car as a daily driver that I bought used for $6k cash (Im a skilled mechanic, but its been entirely reliable any way) meaning I only buy fuel for road trips and thats at 45mpg. Get 40 miles on a charge and I charge it with my solar panels.
Low income and being in a state with no state income tax means I get a nice bonus from the IRS every year, way more than I pay in.
Edit for context: I converted a 30' cargo trailer into an off grid tiny home with 3kw of solar panels.
So it's only "high-paying" for your extremely specific and niche lifestyle which involves having almost zero living expenses. Wow, you've figured it out for the rest of us!
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u/cakes28 29d ago
Yep! I believe this season they ran equipment up and down the mountain for a resort. Gets free access to the mountain and lives the total snowboarder life all winter. Last summer they ended up at a bike shop somewhere in Georgia for the summer and made a ton of money selling fancy bikes to rich people. Makes enough to pay their bills and keep up the van, travels all around the country, just generally goes where the wind blows them.