4 Reasons to Try Seasonal Work if you’re Broke & in your Twenties
All the things I learned working at a fishing lodge in Southeast Alaska
You’ll Experience a Different Pace of Life
The last couple of years have been hard on everyone, but especially difficult for my fellow twenty-something year olds. Inflation, housing costs and the utter shit-show that is American politics right now have made a shaky foundation for those of us trying to get a handle on our lives.
I myself have been struggling my way through my twenties trying and failing careers, entrepreneurial endeavors and relationships. After the pandemic shut down my small massage practice, and my live-in partner of nearly 6 years confessed he hadn’t been emotionally invested in our relationship for a year, I was completely lost.
You’ll Meet New People
In the span of a few weeks, I shut down my business, let go of a committed relationship and lost my home. What was I supposed to do with massage school debt, a healing heart and a serious bout of life burn out?
My desire to escape my current life combined with a quick google search of seasonal massage jobs led me to an ad for a massage therapist job in Sitka, Alaska. The work was just under 4 months and required a diverse skill set of customer service and willingness to work 12 hour days. Within a little over a week, I had applied, interviewed and was offered the job.
You’ll Save Money
Now, nearly 4 months later, I look back on photos of myself and barely recognize the woman staring back at me. I feel nothing but compassion and gratitude for the relationship I learned so many things from, and I breathe a sigh of relief to have minimized my debt and have cash in the bank.
You’ll Learn New Things About Yourself
I exercised interpersonal skills that I forgot I had and didn’t need when isolating during a worldwide pandemic, and I gained confidence in my skills as a massage therapist and hard worker. Seasonal work isn’t for the faint of heart. Several of my co-workers swear that they will never do it again, but even when the days are long or the emotional exhaustion of social interaction wears thin, there is beauty in being surrounded by the mountains. There is refuge in working hard. There is romanticism in your free time, and the time afforded for self care is that much sweeter.
If I could go back, would I still work 10 to 12 hr days on a little 8 acre island in Southeast Alaska, hell yes! Maybe you should try it out too?
