Offer to work at a resort at no wage! I spent the month of July in Platoro, CO (don't look for it on a map!, it's probably not there) working at a lodge for no money. I got room and board and a lifetime of memories.
First bit of advice.. if you ever thought you'd like to own/run a resort.. try this. I knew in three days this was not gonna be for me. I'm not a people person.. it turns out, who knew?????????????
The hours are INSANE!!!! You are talking 12-14 hours a day depending on what is going on and maybe more.
The hiring (and firing) can shoot holes in your schedule. I was there 3 weeks, two people were let go. How do you replace people when you are 40 miles from a cell phone signal?
But the benefits were terrific.. the scenery was just fantastic, the southern rockies up around 9-10,000 feet, the sound of a rushing river just outside the lodge is like Prozac to me. Mule deer, elk, moose, antelope, marmots, hummingbirds all around the lodge.
The people I worked with were all characters, mostly great people. I enjoyed the change in my lifestyle. Some of the guests were terrific and I was glad to meet them. Others, notably a family from Texas, I could have collectively drowned them in the river.
LOTS of memories, lots of stories to tell.. worth every minute of the time I was there.
