The Seasonals Podcast

In the Seasonal lifestyle, the ultimate goal is to get paid to do what you love in incredible locations. During this episode, I ask Dave to describe the best day possible on the mountain and he crafts this snowy paradise in which he's...working. I knew I had come to the right person. Dave is a backcountry ski guide, instructor, and educator, he holds similar roles in whitewater and swiftwater, he guides climbing, mountain bike, and hiking. As he says, 'everything but fishing'. In this...

Life is full of lessons. Some are fun, some are not. Some are quick, some take time to fully learn. One of the more complex lessons in life is that you can do exactly what you’re ‘supposed’ to do and still be miserable. Katelyn Keith took that lesson and responded by building an incredible life for herself working and traveling between Hawaii and Alaska. In this episode, we talk about the similarities between fisherman and farmers, the benefits of dry needling, and how to double your income...

There are many ways to help yourself and others in the Seasonal lifestyle. Krista Dixon's story shows us that as she goes through Wilderness Therapy, sea kayaking, working at Mount Baker ski area, and now onto becoming a travel nurse. In this episode, we talk about avalanche safety, meteor showers that lead to the biggest tip of your season, and how to get financially creative on overseas overnights.

Shelly Page is a musician, author, illustrator, storyteller, and has spent time as a child wrangler on land and sea. In this episode, we talk about ‘small world’ stories, how she found herself skipping a flight in Amsterdam on 4/20, and the worst part about caring for children on cruise ships (their parents). You can find Shelly at shellypagemusic.com and @shellypagemusic on Instagram.

When the guest takes guests out in a helicopter to go surfing in Alaska, there isn’t much need for a caption or introduction, and that’s exactly what Scott Reierson does. In this episode, we talk about the lurking bulk of stellar sea lions, how tour owners are like Indiana Jones, and how sharing your passions with people can be the best part of a trip.

Occasionally, people find their dream job. Sometimes, they also happen to be great at it. That’s what happened to Bethany Stivers when she found the job of Trip Leader, someone who gets paid to take people on amazing trips into the outdoors. In this episode, we talk about the evolution of a backpack with legs into a fearless hype man, a great reason for shaving a beard, and the enviable commute logistics of living and working beside a town ski lift.

Somebody has to do it, why not you? A Seasonal dream job is always within reach, finding it and trying to get it is usually the only thing stopping us. Nikohl Miller is a kiteboard instructor from Virginia who has kiteboarded and instructed in some of the most amazing locales on Earth. In this episode, we talk about where Nikohl has felt culture shock, why you probably crashed your kiteboard, and what beer to drink in OBX to fit in with the locals. If you know someone who could be a great...

The Seasonals Podcast is kicking off 2021 with an incredible storyteller with a wide-ranging resume. Josh Goldstein’s story takes us from Philadelphia to Israel to New Zealand to Albuquerque to New York City to Alaska and involves one of my favorite experiences I’ve heard about on the podcast. In this episode we talk about some of the Alaska experience, race in the Seasonal industry, and we hear the tale of the legendary Snake Man.

Sara Kurtz has been an English teacher in Moscow, a bartender in OBX, a deckhand in Australia, and so much more. In this episode, we talk about what you need for a three year working holiday trip to Australia, her trip to Sierra Leone and the non-profit she started from that trip, and what Russians REALLY think about Americans that come to the Motherland. You can catch Sara on Instagram @saramkurtz P.S. - If you are the American woman who told Sara about the podcast while hiking a trail...

Matt Moore (along with Kelcy Fowler) is co-Owner of CoolWorks. A job board and source of inspiration for the Seasonal industry. Matt grew up in North Carolina before beginning his own Seasonal adventure by heading out to Wyoming. In this episode, we talk about how Covid is affecting the Seasonal life, how meeting your soulmate is occasionally an unlisted benefit on a job description, and we get a playbook on what steps to take from year one to year five and beyond of a Seasonal career....

Brendan Lyle took the advice of a best friend and made the journey to Alaska to begin his Seasonal experience. After an illustrious few years as a zipline guide, he transitioned into selling tours to cruise ship passengers. In this episode, the three-time salesman of the year and I discuss the biggest lesson he’s learned from sales, his biggest home run sales story, and how the Seasonal LIfestyle (and later the Covid pandemic) has changed his life completely. Also, the PDF and Epub versions...

Brian Bailey is an Exploration Cruise Director and an accomplished singer and performer. When I sat down with him for this episode, he had been at sea for 44 days. In this episode, we talk about adversity and his brush with Latin fame performing musical theater in Central America, the beauty (and smell) of seeing 200,000 penguins, and about how Covid-19 has affected modern piracy on the open sea.

No matter what plans you lay out for life, inevitably, they change or get scrapped altogether. In the face of that truth, Olivia Gambelin has chosen to embrace uncertainty and give up on a comfort zone. She’s currently living in Brussels, Belgium where she is the founder and managing director at Ethical Intelligence Associates. In this episode, we talk about what problems an ethicist in AI solves, the worst part about maps that quarantine-shame people, and what it looks like to get paid in...

Meghan Young is training to be a commercial pilot while working seasonally in Alaska. In this episode, I ask what I think is the most ridiculous question I’ve never asked before, Megan tells me about a bar bathroom job interview (both interviewer and interviewee were unknowingly in different bar bathrooms), and we talk about what it’s really like going heli-skiiing. You can find Meghan on Instagram @crazyncurls

Vicky Taylor is a dual citizen of Sweden and England who lives in Japan for most of the year. She writes and translates for various projects and companies online. One of her articles about Seasonal work in Japan was featured in Issue 03 of The Seasonals Quarterly Magazine. In this episode of the podcast, Vicky and I talk about her year-long trip around Europe, the ins and outs of working online and remotely, and the reasons no one actually works on a beach.

Maddie Cobb has worked on a trail crew in the Adirondacks of New York, as an au pair in France, as a Wild Land and Hotshot Firefighter, and now as a French teacher in Vermont. In this episode, we talk about a class she created and teaches called She Persists, the excitement and struggle of working in a fire, and Maddie gives us a detailed view of a full Seasonal career. If you’re interested in receiving the zine students create in She Persists, you can email shepersistsLI@gmail.com

For many travelers and adventurers, Antarctica is on the list of future destinations. For most, it usually stays on the list, unexplored and always in the distance. But for some, further than the tourists who stop once in awhile, there are those who live and work in Antarctica, and who find that the continent makes and leaves a lasting impression on their lives. Keri Nelson has been a contractor in Antarctica for twelve years. In this episode, we talk about what draws her back season after...

What happens when a Seasonal falls in love with a location that has Seasonal jobs all year? A Dual-Seasonal is someone who stays in one of these places and works ‘Seasonally’. Tyler Babcock has found that situation for himself in gorgeous Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In this episode, we talk about taking guests down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, which job to get if you want to fly all over the world for free, and encouraging people to question what is expected of them.

Floating with whales to staring at the same fruit for ten hours a day for months. Meeting new friends from all over the world to dangerous home-stays in Puerto Rico. Seasonal work can have some of the highest highs but also some very low lows. Isaac Nemetz has endured and enjoyed quite a bit in his seasonal career so far. In this episode, we talk about how a Brooklyn city boy dealt with outdoor toilets, what seasonal fatigue is, and what it’s like to work a season in a location during a...

Looking to the power of nature can be a way to free our life and mind of the negative forces that can drag us all down. Whether it’s learning from the natural processes of the world around us or actually getting into nature and enjoying everything it has to offer, finding healing and a better state of mind is almost always the outcome. Lindsey Little has been exploring these ideas and the Earth through countless trips and many different jobs. In this episode, Lindsey and I talk about guiding...