Oregon
The five of us that make up team CoolWorks have all had our lives changed by taking a chance on the road less traveled. Since 1995, legions of adventurers have used our site to find their new path. And as a part of that journey, they often discover new courage, new passion, new love, new family, a new home – a fork in the road to a future that they never expected as the result of a seasonal job.
We’ve created these journals with the belief that storytelling cheers, emboldens and encourages us to tell and create our own stories. We built this venue in the hopes that learning about other people’s experiences might help some dreamers work up the courage to take the plunge themselves. Has a seasonal job changed your life? We would love to hear about it!
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While I was a university student, I discovered the work and travel program with the USA.
I applied for an International Student VISA to go to the USA for a working holiday. The goal is to help us improve our English, have a cultural experience, and allow us to…
I am a tour guide and driver in a National Park. PINCH ME!
This astounding place that the rest of the world dreams of visiting for just a blink? It can be your backyard. You get to not only visit, but wake up and be home there – everyday.
It was the day before Easter Sunday in 2009 when my phone rang from an out of state number. Who would be calling me like this on the Saturday right before Easter and from an out of state number? I answered the phone to a very pleasant person on…
When the season ends, I plan to get another seasonal job and experience another magical place. I used to feel trapped, longing for an adventure I didn’t know how to obtain. I now feel free.
I can do a job anywhere in the world and get to know any…
Seasonal work has allowed us to let our dreams run wild! When Gabby decided that she wanted to catch-and-gut a salmon, we moved to Alaska. When we decided that we wanted to take up skiing, we moved to Colorado. When we saw the sun rise over the Grand Canyon…
When strangers ask me how I came to work in Death Valley, I lie.
I’m not ashamed of the truth; I just know that it’s not what a family of bright-eyed tourists wants to hear over breakfast. Like a lot of parkies, my pilgrimage to the middle of nowhere…
Since my journey began, I’ve watched the sun rise and set in some of the world’s most beautiful places. Every morning, I look out my window and see some of the most amazing mountains on the planet. I sometimes think about what my life might be like had I…
Denali stole my heart: wide open vistas, alpine tundra slopes, Dall Sheep grazing on rugged mountain peaks. Wilderness. Wolves. Grizzly bears. The challenge of it all. The freedom. The evolution of the short summer season, from an eager and intense spring to the snowflakes and stillness of fall. The…
For many years, those dreams brewed restlessly within me. Eventually, I listened to my nagging inner voice and took the plunge to what would become one of the most significant experiences of my adult life. My journey led me from a small, quintessential New England town to Big Sky…