

While both Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts provide places to stay for your RV adventures, they are oriented a bit differently. Generally, acceptance is given on the spot over the phone or via text. To reserve the spot, a number is provided to either call (or sometimes text) the host. Once you find a location that looks good, and click on it, you will see a description, including the address of the business along with how many spaces are available, the maximum RV length allowed, and if the location is pet friendly. You can enter some preferences such as RV length, if the location is pet friendly, and the type of location when you conduct a search. The map is color coded with icons denoting if the location is either a winery (red wine glass), farm (yellow barn), museum or other attraction (green building), or brewery / distillery (brown beer mug). Harvest Hosts, like Boondockers Welcome, provides a search map to find locations.

It’s good to stay in touch with the host through the messages center as your arrival date gets close. You will receive an email (and text) with the acceptance decision as soon as it’s made. The host will then view your profile which lists your RV type and make a decision on your stay. After your request is submitted, you are prompted to message the host and tell a little about why you are travelling. Once you find your desired location and verify the space can accommodate your RV / trailer, you enter your arrival date and number of days you want to stay from the pull down menu. Incredibly, there are plenty of Boondockers Welcome locations across the US and Canada (and sprinkled throughout the world)! Most of the Boondockers Welcome locations allow stays of up to 2 or 3 days, but hosts may allow a longer stay if they choose. number of spots, maximum length of trailer, house rules, utilities available, reviews by users ….). When the trailer is clicked on, more information appears about the location which can then be opened to reveal the site details (e.g. After you decide on a location and verify it can accommodate your rig length, you can then make a stay request (on Boondockers Welcome, this is done entirely online through messaging with the host and on Harvest Hosts you actually have to call or text the host).īoondockers Welcome allows searches by location on a map with host sites depicted by a trailer. Once your profile is set up, you can search the available locations (with descriptions on what is offered). It is significant to note that both services require the RV to be completely self-contained (meaning sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation are all enclosed in the RV - toilet, sink, and grey tank are required). Once you complete payment, you can then sign into each of the websites and write up a profile that describes yourselves and your RV. Joining is very easy and is all done quickly online. Since the cost of an annual membership of both organizations is very low (less than the cost of one night’s stay at a typical RV park), we decided to give them a try figuring we had little to lose (especially if we were able to stay at least one night during the annual membership term). It seemed hard to understand how this camping model really worked. Or, perhaps it would be very difficult to secure a stay over (like at State and National Parks). Who would let you stay at their home or on their farm for no money (and potentially even let you use some of their resources like water and electricity)? We wondered if there would be surcharges or other gotchas. The first time we heard about RV membership services like Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts we thought there must be some sort of gimmick to it. Sometimes things seem a little too good to be true.

Boondockers welcome vs harvest host free#
Free Stayovers with Boondockers Welcome & Harvest Hosts
