When we started thinking about work camping, one of the biggest attractions was the chance to use it as a way to see more of the country.
Our plan was pretty simple: head north for the summer, south for the winter, and let the jobs we found along the way help shape the journey.
Maine had been on our list for a long time, so when the opportunity came to spend the summer of 2024 working at two different KOA campgrounds, it felt like the perfect way to finally get there.
What we didn’t realize at the time was just how different those two campgrounds—and the experiences that came with them—would be.
Bar Harbor: A Destination People Had Been Waiting For
Our first KOA of the summer was in Bar Harbor, Maine, and almost immediately we noticed how destination-driven the campground was.
People were not just passing through.
Many of our guests had come specifically to see the Maine coast, spend time near the ocean, and visit Acadia National Park. Some told us they had been hoping to make the trip for years, which gave the campground a completely different kind of energy.
There was a real sense that people were excited to finally be there.
With views like this, it was easy to understand why.
The campground itself became part of the experience, but for many guests, it was also their home base for exploring everything they had traveled so far to see.
Mornings could be quiet and peaceful, with the water stretching out in front of the campground and guests planning their day around hikes, sightseeing, or time along the coast.
And then there were evenings like this.
Some nights, the sunset alone felt like part of the attraction.
Working there gave us a front-row seat to people finally checking a long-awaited trip off their list, and that made Bar Harbor feel less like a regular campground and more like a destination in its own right.
Lebanon/Salmon Falls River: The Campground Was the Vacation
Our second KOA of the summer had a completely different feel.
At Lebanon/Salmon Falls River KOA, many families were not using the campground simply as a place to sleep while they explored somewhere else. For a lot of them, the campground itself was the destination.
This was a place where families came back year after year for their summer vacation. We constantly heard stories from guests who had been visiting for many years—some of them since before the property ever became a KOA.
That history gave the campground a very different atmosphere.
There were a lot of seasonal guests, familiar faces, and families who already knew exactly what they wanted to do when they arrived.
And there was plenty for kids to do.
With two pools, a water slide, a ropes course, and other family-focused activities, the campground had much more of a resort feel than Bar Harbor.
Bar Harbor certainly had activities for kids, but the overall experience there felt more adult-oriented and tied to the surrounding destination. At Lebanon/Salmon Falls River, families could arrive, settle in, and spend much of their vacation without ever needing to leave the campground.
That made the day-to-day rhythm very different for us as work campers too.
At Bar Harbor, we were often helping people who were excited about Acadia, the coast, and everything they had traveled to Maine to see.
At Lebanon/Salmon Falls River, we were often seeing families return to a place that had already become part of their own traditions.
Same KOA sign.
Very different kind of vacation.
GnomadicLife 