Looking to travel and explore the US far and wide this summer but don’t know how to supplement your income while doing it?
“#VanLife” represents a renewed interest in the American road trip, a culture of outdoorsiness, and most importantly, a life free from the 9-5 office job grind. This aesthetic, culture, and mentality that people identify with has led to over 15 million Instagram posts with the hashtag and over 900 posts on Pinterest boards.
We found five Taskers who figured out how to rock that #VanLife while tasking across the states. These adventurous Taskers share how van life plus Taskrabbit helps them earn a meaningful income, what they enjoy about the nomadic lifestyle, and how flexible and easy it is to task from city to city while still setting your own rates and schedule.
Real life Tasker couple Maggie P. and Joseph C. experience adventures on the road thanks to their repurposed school bus, Willow the Skoolie, that they started living in from April 2022. The urge to travel as well as windsurf in new spots eventually became too great to just stay at home. The fear of missing out (FOMO!) that they experienced from all the nomads and vanlifers on Instagram soon turned into inspiration. In July 2021, they took the leap and bought their new home on wheels. That following year, they found out about Taskrabbit and life’s been smooth sailing and new views ever since.
Thanks to Taskrabbit, Maggie and Joseph were even able to save up enough money to visit eight National Parks in 2022!
Maggie says her favorite part about traveling while being a Tasker is that “I used it as an opportunity to explore each city that we were in. While we were in San Francisco, I took my bike to most of my jobs and got to see different neighborhoods and sights during my commute. I don’t miss biking up those steep hills, though!”
For Joseph, it’s the unique people they meet along the way that makes tasking exciting. He also appreciates how you can be your own boss no matter where you go. “One of the best parts of travel working is being able to decide your own schedule. Taskrabbit is perfect for those who want to live the nomadic life, as you can pick and choose your jobs, and your location.”
The key to being a successful #VanLife Tasker? Balance!
“I balance being on the road and completing tasks by not scheduling myself too far out in advance. This is because travel plans can be quick to change, so having the freedom of an open schedule if need be reduces the stress of having to cancel or reschedule any tasks. You never know when a friend you haven’t seen in months might call and ask you to meet them in Joshua Tree!” Maggie says. “The good thing about Taskrabbit is that usually people are only booking me for tasks a few days in advance, so I can have the flexibility of clearing my schedule for the following week if need be.”
Now let’s introduce our next Tasker couple, Savannah T. and Shelby G., who are aspiring vanlifers currently figuring out how to use Taskrabbit to make money while mobile!
“The nice thing we have found so far when traveling and being a Tasker is that the job is complementary to this lifestyle. You get to choose the hours, location, and type of work you do. We also love the ability to work together. This makes us feel safe and allows us to both make income doing the same thing.”
The accessibility of Taskrabbit while traveling on the road is what they really love about this lifestyle. Back when they worked in the restaurant industry as bartenders and servers, they were really limited in what they could do and travel wasn’t an option.
“The average hours we work for Taskrabbit drastically changes each week. This is one reason we really love this job. If we have big hikes or plans, we can decide to not work as much,” they explain. “If we have nothing to do for a couple days, we set full availability and work hard while we can.”
As a couple who’s interested in tasking on the road, they’ve come up with a few tips and tricks for other aspiring tasking travelers to keep in mind.
Tip #1: “Make your profile interesting/personalized. Try to make your bio show your personality, that is what makes you stand out from the rest. Try to add before and after photos of your work.”
Tip #2: “Try to get as many reviews as possible. Shelby and I do this by telling clients at the end of our work day. ‘Thank you so much for having us. If you enjoy our work, please leave a review and think of us the next time you need a task done.’”
Tip #3: “Taskrabbit works the best for you if you keep it up to date. We set reminders every week to post our current availability and location we are able to work. We sometimes even do this prior to getting in an area so we have jobs set up before we even arrive.”
And finally, we come upon our fifth adventurous Tasker Tyler W.!
As a full-time college student, Tyler was determined to finance his college education and avoid taking out loans. With classes going online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tyler found that he had a lot more free time on his hands. Enter Taskrabbit!
“It allowed me to utilize the skills I had learned from my parents to complete various tasks and earn money. With each task, I gained more experience and honed my skills, often turning to YouTube and friends for guidance and feedback,” he says.
Thanks to his savings from Taskrabbit, Tyler decided to purchase a cargo van to convert into a camper/work vehicle and take a semester off to travel around the country from January to May 2022. He continued to task whenever he needed additional funds to continue these amazing travel experiences.
“When it comes to Taskrabbit tasks, I’ve had the opportunity to work in a variety of cities, including New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Salt Lake City. While the types of tasks I completed were generally similar from city to city, what I enjoyed most was observing the unique architecture and diverse communities in each region. Sometimes, I had to adjust my approach to accommodate specific building codes or construction methods, which presented exciting challenges,” he says.
“Among all the cities I visited, San Diego was my favorite place to work, primarily due to the friendliness of the people in the area. On more than one occasion, clients even offered me a full meal after completing a task. Additionally, being able to surf and do Taskrabbit work on the same day felt like a dream come true.”
Stretching his savings from Taskrabbit even further, Tyler was even able to start his own contracting business!
“I was fortunate enough to make a variety of connections that eventually helped me to launch my own contracting business. Additionally, I conducted extensive research on how to create a flexible business plan that could be implemented in any city where I chose to work. This allowed me to establish a solid foundation for my business while still maintaining the flexibility to travel and work on Taskrabbit as needed,” he says.
“Overall, it was a challenging but rewarding experience, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have pursued my passion while also exploring different parts of the country and still have a thriving business to this day.”
It’s amazing what the flexibility and accessibility of Taskrabbit can do for vanlifers! If you’re interested in taking on new jobs in different cities, just update your work map! Combine your love for travel with your passion for helping others by checking out Taskrabbit and all that tasking has to offer.
