“‘What are you doing?’ they ask. I say ‘I don’t know'” Schnabel jokes to PEOPLE

Parker Schnabel‘s job creates difficulties in his life on and off the mine site.

Gold rush As the show enters its 15th season, Star sat down with PEOPLE to discuss the impact this event has had on her life. Schnabel, who is only 30, has spent half his life as a gold miner on TV and jokes that he still doesn’t know how to explain his job to people unfamiliar with mining.

“I’m trying to explain this in a way that doesn’t sound very nice Crazy Maximum,he laughs. “It’s hard to explain this without sounding like a dystopian, crazy world. “I’m in the forest and you’re living in a shelter, tearing down rocks, looking for little shiny rocks.”

“Then it makes dating incredibly difficult,” she adds. “‘What are you doing?’ they say. ‘I don’t know,’ I said.”

Relating to: Gold rushParker Schnabel Reveals ‘Really Tough Timeline’ in Season 15: ‘No Room for Error’ (Exclusive)

Schnabel said his life revolves mainly around his career, but he looks forward to having a family one day.

“I hope to eventually have a family and a life outside of television,” he admits. “I have a life outside of television, but I think the show will be completely over without my children, I guess.”

Schnabel, who learned everything he knows about mining from his grandfather, says he has no intention of passing on the legacy to his own children unless they want to enter the same field.

“I think it’s a hundred years old,” he explains. “One of the best things about my upbringing was that my parents never pushed me in any direction. My father ran a construction company and there was zero pressure to get involved in what you could consider the family business. My grandfather basically ran a hobby gold mine. Most years they found a hundred ounces of gold. “It was a money-losing venture for 20 years.”

“I think it really bothered my father that the job I was involved in when I was young wasn’t economically viable, but he didn’t say anything,” he continues. “He just wanted me to be happy. In my opinion, that’s the best thing you can do for a child.”

Schnabel, now in his 30s, says he doesn’t know exactly where he’ll be in the next few years, but that doesn’t scare him.

“I’m looking forward to the next chapter of my life. “I really don’t think it’s going to be like, ‘Oh, my glory days are behind me,'” he shares. “My father and I started a new job and he is 69 years old. He’s having the best time of his life. My grandfather didn’t start mining gold until he was 65 years old. That’s exactly what I think, man, age is definitely just a number.

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Gold rush It will premiere on Discovery Channel on Friday, November 8 at 20:00, and the entire series will be broadcast on Max.