Boondockers Welcome is Joining the Harvest Hosts Family

Boondockers Welcome is Joining the Harvest Hosts Family

A Message from Marianne & Anna

Nine years ago, after almost two years of planning and development, Boondockers Welcome was born. Since then, we’ve built a dedicated contingent of hosts and guests who have one thing in common: a love of RVing and the community it provides. We’re so incredibly proud of what we’ve created, and we’ve loved every second of growing this community with all of you.

But as time goes by, all things age, grow, and change. That goes for us personally, as well as for Boondockers Welcome.

So today, we’re excited to announce that Boondockers Welcome is joining forces with Harvest Hosts. Joel Holland, their CEO, has grown the Harvest Hosts network by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and we know that he and his very capable team will help to continue to grow Boondockers Welcome as a community made by RVers, for RVers.

We want to assure all our members that our baby will be in good hands with Joel. Boondockers Welcome will continue as a dedicated community, alongside but separate from Harvest Hosts.

For our current guests, please know that your subscription prices won’t increase with this transition, and any locked-in pricing you’ve received as a loyal community member will continue to be honoured.

For our current hosts, rest assured that Joel and his team know that you’re the lifeblood of Boondockers Welcome, and they are just as committed as we are to making sure you continue to enjoy this community and feel respected and appreciated for your amazing generosity.

The Harvest Hosts team is dedicated to continuing to improve the Boondockers Welcome experience, and you can expect some great new features in the near future. We really feel that they will be amazing stewards for the community we’ve built.

And don’t think you’ll be rid of us that easily! While Marianne is going to be enjoying a well-earned retirement, Anna will be sticking around for the next while to ensure a smooth transition. Carrie has also joined the Harvest Hosts team full-time and will still be able to make sure all our members are well taken care of.

Look for an email from Joel in the coming days to give you a warm welcome, and continuing communications about what’s to come.

In closing, the last decade with this community has been amazing. We’ve always said that it’s not about the destination, but the journey and the friends you make along the way. This journey has been life-changing for us. We’ve had the privilege of meeting so many of you in person, getting to know you and your stories, and sharing so much more than just our love of RVing. We want to thank each and every one of you for being such strong supporters of not just the Boondockers Welcome community, but of us personally. You have been the friends who have made the journey so worthwhile.

With all our gratitude to you, this amazing community,

Marianne, Anna & Carrie

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A Message from Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Hosts

Hi Boondockers!

My name is Joel Holland, and I’m the CEO of Harvest Hosts (and a fellow RVer!) I’m reaching out to follow up on the note that Marianne and Anna sent last week about the Boondockers Welcome merger with Harvest Hosts. First of all, we are VERY excited to be bringing our two wonderful companies together! I know that many of you have questions, and I’m hoping this message will help provide further clarification on a number of topics.

Before I get to the details, I want to recognize Marianne and Anna, as well as Carrie, for their incredible work building Boondockers Welcome over the past nine years. As you all know, Boondockers Welcome represents the best of the RVing community, and I continue to be amazed by the stories about the kindness, generosity, and “pay it forward” mentality of the Boondockers Welcome community that you all have shared over the years. This sense of community is why I’ve always been such a big fan of Boondockers Welcome and an avid supporter of Marianne and Anna.

Second, I’d like to introduce myself to the Boondockers community. I’m a technology entrepreneur, and my wife, Mary Ashley, is a veterinarian. Six years ago, we were getting burned out on city life and were tired of spending hours stuck in traffic, so we bought an RV and hit the open road. Long story short, we loved it and quickly became RVing enthusiasts. Since then, we’ve traveled through all lower 48 states and spent hundreds of nights camping. During our travels, we joined Harvest Hosts, which changed our RVing lives — we had an awesome time staying at incredible locations from wineries to alpaca farms. In 2018, we purchased Harvest Hosts from the original founders and we’ve worked to continue to grow the program. Over these past few years, the Harvest Hosts team and I have been dedicated to our mission of helping people live happier lives through road travel while supporting small businesses along the way. Just like you, our team knows and understands the positive impact that traveling and camping can have on people’s lives.

I firmly believe that bringing Boondockers Welcome into the Harvest Hosts family is a great fit, and I could not be more excited about it. Which brings us to today… Some of you might be wondering — what does this mean for the Boondockers Welcome community? A few thoughts:

• I fully understand and appreciate that Boondockers Welcome is a community of RVers helping other RVers, and that this community is unique and different from what Harvest Hosts offers. Please know that I am just as committed as Marianne and Anna to preserving and protecting that sense of community that makes Boondockers Welcome so special.
• As such, Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts will continue to operate as separate programs, with separate membership fees. If you just want to be a member of Boondockers Welcome, great! If you just want to be on Harvest Hosts, go for it! And, if you see value in being a member of both programs, that works too.
• A current standalone Boondockers Welcome membership will be $79/year USD, and grandfathered rates and lifetime memberships will be honored. We are looking into how we can offer members of both programs more value through bundled offers, but we need a little more time to figure out the details. Thank you for your patience as we figure this out.
• We know that Boondockers Welcome hosts are the lifeblood of this community. They will continue to receive discounts and/or free site access. We’re working to find even more ways to show our appreciation for those of you who open up your property to fellow travelers. We will share more details on that down the road.
• For Boondockers Welcome hosts, the Boondockers Welcome Protection Plan is currently active and will remain in place going forward. We have worked with the insurance agency behind this policy to ensure that no changes have been made to coverage. We fully understand that this is an important element to the hosting experience.
• In the coming months, we will be combining Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts from a backend technology standpoint. Doing so will allow us to invest in more product features and functions that enhance the experience for guests and hosts of both programs. There is nothing for you to do for now on the technology front. Please continue using Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts as you currently do. We will share more details in the coming months as we work on them.

In closing, I want to reiterate how excited and honored myself and the Harvest Hosts team are to be affiliated with the Boondockers Welcome community. We know that it really is a community, and a special one at that. We’re looking forward to continuing to support that community and build on the foundation that Marianne, Anna, and all of the Boondockers Welcome members and hosts have created over the years.

Sincerely,

Joel

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