Did I get Amazon to sponsor me? Not quite.

It started with a leaking roof. I’d been planning my summer motorcycle trip, deciding where to go, what to see — you know, fun stuff — when unexpected house damage would throw a wrench in the works. After getting some quotes for house repairs, it was obvious the numbers weren’t adding up in my favor. It looked like all my vacation funds would be going to fix the damage.  I could save a bunch of money by fixing it myself, but material costs alone were going to take all my road-trip fund, and more.

Still, I wanted to take a motorcycle trip but would have to figure out how to pay for it and house repairs.

Maybe I could start a YouTube channel, get a bunch of ad revenue and beg patrons for money. Hey, I’m on my way to the big time!

It might work for others, but I don’t see it working for me. It could be an option if I was better looking and had a personality, but I’d have to look for something else.

How about a sponsor? Would I be able to convince a business to sponsor my trip? I could plaster their logo on my helmet and bike. I could get fancy leathers, turn myself into a billboard and travel the country on their dime!

I don’t really see that working out either, so my options were getting limited. Looks like I might have to do it the old-fashioned way and take a second job for a bit. I scoured the internet job listings, looking for something that wouldn’t interfere with my regular job. I was hoping to find something that wouldn’t be too mentally taxing. I’m not that smart to begin with and after working all day at my full-time job, I’m left with little capacity to spare. One company kept coming up as needing part-time help — Amazon.

Would I be able to convince Jeff Bezos and Co. to fund my motorcycle adventures? Maybe not directly, but if I could land a job at Amazon, they’d unknowingly be paying my way.

Seems the only real requirement for working at an Amazon warehouse is a pulse, and I am lucky enough to have one of those. I also possess a strong back and a weak mind, so I might just be an ideal candidate.

I’ve heard horror stories about working for Amazon, but I’ve had some crappy jobs in my time. It was also helpful that I wasn’t looking at this as a permanent thing, so I figured I should be able to handle it. At the very least, I’d be able to do it long enough to put aside some cash for house repairs and maybe cover any upcoming motorcycle adventures.

It was a little disappointing that I wasn’t interviewed by Jeff Bezos, or anyone really, but the process was easy enough. I filled out a short online application, took a drug test, and got my schedule. There was no interview. I didn’t even talk to anyone. It was all handled online. I’d start work a couple weeks later. I was hoping to work up to 10 hours a week, but my only option was for 20 hours. Not ideal, but tolerable for a short time.

Just like with most product reviews I read on the internet, expectations did not meet reality. I can only speak of my own experience, but the job was not nearly as bad as what I’d seen online and in news reports. It wasn’t nearly the high-paced work environment I’d been led to believe.

I mostly loaded trucks. It wasn’t difficult and was sometimes fun. It wasn’t fun enough that I’d consider leaving my regular job and working at Amazon full time, but it was tolerable. I’d sometimes get put in other areas that I didn’t like too much, but I’d remind myself: “tonight will pay for a motel room, or gas, or food, or something on my trip.” It was enough to keep me going, even with too little sleep and not much free time. Seems I was always working, driving to or from work, or doing house repairs. Still, I was motivated to stick it out and build up enough money for motorcycle adventures.

I was hoping to work there for a year, but I came up a bit short. After I put aside enough money, it became more difficult to justify keeping a second job. My motivation was gone and working weeks on end without a day off became more than I was willing to do.

I’d have lasted longer if they had let me continue to load trucks. Instead, I was being rotated to work several different areas. Most were OK, but I didn’t like a couple of them. Additionally, I wasn’t looking to make Amazon a permanent thing and I didn’t want to learn more positions. In the end, I managed to last 10 months before I decided to call it a day.

Looking back, it wasn’t bad. I managed to put aside enough money to cover house repairs, made a few new friends, and had funds to go on a couple of motorcycle trips, so maybe it was worth it.