O K here goes. We are in our mid 50's way to young to retire completely so was wondering if anyone has any good ideas for making a living on the road. We have both been out of the real world for way to long,(over the road truck drivers). Any marketable skills we had are so old that no one would hire us. We are debt free for the most part but still need to pay the normal stuff like insurance and the like.
Rick & Hope

humm, tips... lets see...

Well the first thing is: try stop that “we have no current marketableskills stuff”. How you think about things like that can often define how yourmojo works.

Ideas:

Well as time-honored pro-truck drivers you must know tonsabout driving, so why not make some videos and sell em online.

1. Small Truck Driving 101 (for all those kids who just rented the Ryder moving truck and are likely to treat it like their honda)
2. On the road with a load…covering mountains, cornering, hookup and more.
3. Getting your CDL

    4. Road survival technique for beginners

anyway, just sending some ideas your way, good luck and happy travels.

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they are yours."
-- Richard Bach

Great tips from travelfables! I agree with the mojo adjustment - you got through life for 50ish years, you had to collect plenty of skills along the way!

I love the video ideas. There are so many that buy RVs - and also that currently own them - that could use a course on driving them. Coming from a professional driver prospective would be great! Also, a lot of women would like to feel more confident driving RVs. That could be another great market.

I think the biggest hurdle is to overcome the "traditional employment" thoughts that we all have pounded into our brains. Of the members here on this site, there are very few that are traditionally employed. Start coming up with a list of things that interest you, then think about how that can be converted into income.

Some other ideas: delivering new/used RVs for dealers/manufacturers. I see ads about this in many magazines. Campground hosting - while paying a very small wage, it does give you a free place to park. I sell a waterless carwash product on the side, and find that if I put more time into it, I could probably make some decent cash each month. Workamper.com has a ton of "job openings" for fulltime RVers - some traditional, some not. Nice to be able to take a job a few months here, move along, few months there, etc.

Looking forward to hearing what you find interesting!


--kev

I agree, first off, think more positively about what skills you have to offer. I can relate though, I joke all the time about going to college for an English degree and coming out without any "real" skills whatsoever!

One way I make money on the side is by taking my hobby, scrapbooking, and selling Digital Scrapbook software and books. If you'd like to learn more, drop me a line. It's easy money (30 percent commission on every sale) that's a litte bit of cash here and there, and like Kevin, if I put more energy into it, I know I could make a lot more.

There are lots of books about making a living on the road, I think the best one is: "Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road," 2nd Edition, By Jaimie Hall.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

All good ideas. Yes I tend to look at the dark side of things.
 Most of our runs are across I-40 from Arkansas to Calif. and back, and I will take the cameras with me and start to document some of the things I see.
 LiveWorkDream we would be very interested in your software to see what we could do with it. Does it work on a Mac? Thanks for all your input
Rick & Hope

Would you be interested in being sales reps for the leading trucking software? Put those years of trucking experience to use stopping in at truck stops and getting them to carry the product and selling direct to truckers if you want (but the real money would be getting the little mom/pop truck stops all over the country to carry it). If that sounds interesting let me know and we'll talk about it some more.

 

Other than that - the other poster have offered up a number of good ideas. Number one among them Stop knocking your experience and learn how to put it to use :)